Beyond Yesterday
by Rose Ruru
Summary: An AU fic, about what could have happened, if Mulder and Scully had met in high school. [Completed]
1. Prologue

Title: Beyond Yesterday

Summary: uh… none at all. If you really, really need one, it's an A/U fic, about what could have happened, if Mulder and Scully have met in high school. Response to a friend's challenge… 

Disclaimer: I know it, you know it, and everybody knows it: they don't belong to me. Oh, and Mulder and Scully belong to each other. Just a random thought that I think people should agree.

Feedback: I'm really, really begging you for this story… YES! Please? Please?

Dreamy Child offered her assistance as usual when I plan on doing something that doesn't spoil anything in the show, but… Alice, you should know how it goes! Every time we attempt to write something together, it turns out to be a parody!

Anyway, here we go…

***

"Dana? Melissa?" My mom knocked gently on my door. "Time to get up!"

I groaned, and rolled onto my back. A quick glance at the alarm clock told me that it's six in the morning. "Mom, it's just six!" I protested, pulling the blanket over my head.

 "Yes but if you don't get up you're going to be late for school!"

I could hear Melissa turning restlessly in her bed on the other side of the room. She rolled onto her side so that she was facing me. "What does she want now?" she mouthed, looking tired as hell.

 "She wants us up for school," I mouthed back.

 "School?!" Melissa practically jumped out of her bed. She grabbed the alarm clock, and then went over to her desk and stared hard at the calendar, trying to figure out the date.

 "It's August thirtieth, Friday," I announced as I got out of my bed and started rummaging through my closet. No point of going back to bed. I could never fall asleep again once I was up.

 "And school doesn't start until Monday," Melissa said, running a hand through her hair. "Today's your freshmen welcoming ceremony. She must've got it mixed up."

 "Girls?" Mom knocked again, this time harder. "I don't hear any sound that suggests you're up!"

 "Mom for sweet God's sake!" Melissa said loudly, making sure that Mom heard her, "School doesn't start until Monday!"

 "Then why is today marked down on the calendar?"

 "Because it is Dana's freshmen welcoming ceremony tonight at seven!" And then she was under her blanket and cover and all. "Parents," she grumbled, "they mark down the important date on the calendar and don't write down why it is important. And then they just randomly decide what event makes the day special."

I giggled, and she finally noticed that I was fully dressed.

 "Why are you dressed already?" Melissa asked, yawning.

 "I can't go back to sleep once I'm up," I explained. "Anyway, tell me about this ceremony."

She pushed herself up with her elbows. "Okay… if you're really too lazy to read that announcement which has been sitting on your desk for the past week."

 "Basically it's the school's way of annoying seniors to death before they graduate... they usually pair up girls with guys, and vice versa. Tonight your partner will be showing you around the school so you won't get lost on Monday, and you'll learn when each other have free, study, and lunch and if you have a matching period, you're free to ask him any questions regarding to the school _only_, unless he's willing to talk about himself."

 "That's it?" I asked, quite disappointed.

 "What do you expect? Balloons and flowers and your senior partner dance with you under the moonlight and a beautiful friendship or romance starts?" Melissa said, slipping under the cover.

 "Never mind," I said, opening the door. "And you forgot to pull the curtain together."

 "Pull it for me, will you?" She asked sleepily. "I'm too lazy to get up again."

 "You're the one who wants to sleep," I pointed out, closing the door behind me.

And I could hear Melissa groan and curse from behind the door as she got up again to pull close the curtain.

***

 "So, who's your senior partner? Or have you even bothered to look at it?"

It was almost six thirty in the evening; we're having dinner earlier than usual because I have to leave for this "welcoming ceremony." Melissa was stacking up the empty plates and taking them to the kitchen sink.

I pulled out the folded piece of paper from my jeans pocket. "It's someone called Fox Mulder—you know anything about him?"

 "Yeah. He's got the weirdest name in school and he's cute," she left the dishes in the sink, came over and took the paper. "He's from somewhere in Massachusetts, I think... oh yeah, he's kind of freaky, I should warn you."

I raised a questioning eyebrow. "Freaky? How?"

 "Well, loads of people think that he's just a nutcase; his sister had gone missing when he was a kid and he believes that she was abducted by aliens. But never mind that," she said, stuffing the paper back into my hand, "You should get going now if you don't want to be late."

And so, my freshmen year adventure started

***

_Uh… the ceremony idea came from my sister's high school… they really do that. Anyway, how do you like it? Do you have anything for me? Feedbacks? Reviews? Flames? Anything??? Please! I really, really want to finish this one, not just for my friend, but also for myself, and for YOU, the reader, if you don't think it sucks! So please, tell me everything you think about this story! Suggestion on how it should go on is ALWAYS welcomed, just in case I run out of ideas…_.


	2. August

_My __job__ has __been good__ at keeping me busy, so I thought I should get the second chapter done before I'm overwhelmed by this job… god do I hate it._

_Anyway, read, enjoy, and REVIEW!!! I need it! I'm no good at begging, but hopefully you get the message._

Beyond Yesterday

I couldn't remember exactly what I was thinking about on my way to the high school, under the moonlight. Okay, that phrase sounded totally romantic, under the moonlight, but like Melissa said, don't expect anything. And I knew that seniors were usually snobby as hell. Just look at Bill. He wouldn't even grace the lowly freshmen with his holy presence. He'd rather stay at home and laugh his head off at some idiots on the TV.

I reached the high school without even knowing it. I was probably going to walk straight into the wall when a familiar voice called, "Dana!"

I turned around and saw my best friend Anna sitting on the step of the main entrance, and I walked over to join her and our other friends. Most of them were excited, comparing to me. Thanks to Melissa's warning.

"Aren't you excited, Dana?" Anna was saying, and I turned my full attention to her. "Aren't you excited about meeting your senior partner?"

"It's just like 'show and tell,' isn't it?" I said casually. "He's just going to show me around the school, no big. By the way, how do we find our partners? The announcement didn't say anything."

"So there's finally something that the 'Know-it-all Dana Scully' doesn't know," Elena, my other friend, said in a teasing tone, and I turned to glare at her. She shrunk back, but continued. "Every senior is going to be wearing a name tag, and you match the name from the announcement to the name on the name tag, simple as that."

Anna nodded, and suddenly she grabbed my armed and rushed toward the door. "Come on, it's seven! The ceremony is going to start any time!"

***

The ceremony is just like what Melissa had warned me against: don't expect anything. I could have fallen asleep about a hundred times before the principal was done with his speech, if I wasn't chatting with my friends the whole time. I glanced several times at the seniors sitting on the opposite side of the gym; they all looked bored to death. They probably didn't want to spend their last day of summer here just to show a bunch of freshmen the way around the school. 

But wait… there was a person who didn't look bored at all. I turned my attention away from the chitchat my friends were having, and tried to focus on his face. He was surveying the freshmen sitting across the gym, and he seemed to be interested, maybe trying to imagine what his partner might look like. When his eyes met mine, he blinked, and then smiled–with his eyes. And then those brown puppy eyes of his moved on to continue their survey. I felt a shiver traveling up my right arm, and I rubbed it, trying to figure out what was wrong with me, having goosebumps springing all over me just because a senior guy looked at me.

"…See?! I told you the high school has better air conditioning than the junior high!" Elena was saying, "See the goosebumps all over Dana's arms?"

I looked at the senior side again, but he had vanished into the crowd.

I looked back at my friends and yawned. "When's he going to be done with the speech?"

"I don't know," Anna said, looking at her watch. "He's been talking for the last ten minutes and he didn't even stop to drink water or something!"

"Maybe they have to be trained to produce more saliva than other people to become a principal," Elena suggested, and we had to work hard to suppress our laughter.

Finally it was over, and the seniors lined up against the wall. "Let's go and find our partners!" Elena said. I felt sorry for her. She was definitely expecting something, maybe a warm welcome. She probably wouldn't be getting any, from what I have learned about the seniors.

I took the piece of paper out of my pocket, checked the name for one last time, and stared to focus on reading the name tags on the chest of the seniors and trying not to bump into other people.

Fox Mulder, Fox Mulder, Fox Mulder… aha, found you.

I looked up–God, that guy was tall–and looked into the puppy brown eyes I saw just a moment ago in the crowd. And he recognized me too.

"Hey you were that kid that was staring at me, aren't you?" He asked half-jokingly. "You're my partner?"

I nodded and swallowed. He certainly noticed my uneasiness, because he said, "Hey no pressure, okay? I was nervous as hell as well on my first day here. You got your schedule ready to go?"

I fished my schedule out from another pocket and handed it to him. "Here it is."

"Well-prepared, aren't you?" He said good-naturally. "When I was here as a freshman I forgot my schedule and had to go to my counselor for a new one; my partner was totally pissed off."

I laughed. I was starting to like this guy; maybe seniors were not so bad after all. He smiled, and then pointed at the stairway. "You have biology first period–that's the shortest way from the entrance here. C'mon, I'll show you."

He walked toward the stairway, and I followed. This was not a bad start at all.

***

"So, any questions?"

It had been almost an hour since we started the tour around the high school; he had shown me the shortest way between my classes. We also compared our schedule, which were both surprisingly full.

"You only have one lunch period, and no free or study," He had said, clearly amused. "Not so many freshmen take so many courses; people want their workload for the first year here as light as possible."

"Well, I believe that I should be prepared for the following three years, Fox," I replied, folding my schedule.

"Mulder," he corrected me, stuffing his schedule into his pocket. "I usually prefer people to call me by my last name."

"You dislike your name that much?"

"Very. This hallway leads to the cafeteria–no shortcut this time," he said, pointing at a hallway branched out in the left of where we're standing. "It's the only way in this school."

We walked into the cafeteria, and he continued talking. "It's a pain to get here if you're going to a science or math class, because the classrooms are all located on the other side of the building. So don't bother to come down here and get takeout because you're more than likely to be late for class. But since you have a lunch period, you'd better use it."

I looked at both side of the cafeteria, and noticed that one small section was kind of "fenced in." "What's that area for?" I asked, pointing a finger in that direction.

Mulder turned and followed my finger. "It's the senior section of the cafeteria," he replied, "They always kick underclassmen out of there right away, so don't even try to step in there unless you're accompanied by a senior."

"So I'll find you in there fifth period?" I remembered that he had lunch fifth period, just like me.

"No. You'll find me over there," he said, pointing a finger at the opposite side of the cafeteria. "That's the freshmen side, but they got the best chairs and tables. The senior class has a bad trend of knocking hard on their tables and chairs, and according to my calculation the tables and chairs over at the senior section should be collapsing somewhere during November or December. Don't want to be sitting on a chair over there when it collapses."

"Okay, so I'll find you in the freshmen section of the cafeteria during fifth period–everyday?"

"Everyday. I like to sit in a public place and have people telling each other how insane and spooky I am. Feel free to ask questions if you just happen to pop in here. Anything else you want to know?"

"I think that's it for now."

"Okay then," He said, stretching his arms and yawned. "See you on Monday."

I nodded, and began to walk toward the cafeteria exit when he called, "Dana?"

I turned to look at him. "Yeah?"

"What I said about feel free to ask me questions, I mean it." He winked at me, and I couldn't help but to smile. "You can never have too much help during your freshmen year, eh?"

"Yeah. Thanks."

***

"How was it?" Melissa asked me when I stepped into the bedroom we shared that night. "Did the senior piss you off? I know my partner last year did."

"No, actually," I said, changing into my nightgown. "He was a nice person."

"Lucky you," she mumbled, throwing back the blanket, her eyes bright. "So let's hear about this 'Amazing Mulder,' shall we?"

"There's not much to say," I said, ducking into my bed. "Really."

"I don't buy that a bit, Dana Katherine Scully." Melissa pouted. She got out of her bed and sat down by my bed. "So, tell me about him."

"I told you there's not much to say," I replied, pulling the blanket over my head.

"You're lying, I know it!" Melissa said, yanking off my blanket and started tickling me. I laughed, and tickled her back. Few moments later we were lying on the floor, laughing hysterically.

Mom's head appeared in the doorway. "Is there a problem, girls?"

"She won't tell me about this amazing partner that she had," Melissa said, getting to her feet. "Mom, can you make her tell me?"

Mom only sighed. "Go to bed, Melissa. And let your sister keep her secret if she wants to."

She closed the door, and we started laughing again.

"Come on," Melissa said, pulling me onto my feet. "I want to hear about this Fox Mulder character–by God, there are rumors about him flying all over the school!"

"He's really nice, nothing snotty like Bill," I said, tilting my head in the direction of Bill's room; Melissa laughed. "And he showed me the shortest ways between my classes, and he sits in the freshmen section of the cafeteria because according to his calculation, the tables and chairs in the senior sections should be collapsing soon due to the heavy pounding and knocking committed by last year's senior. And he said that I should feel free to ask him any questions."

Melissa stared at me blankly. And then she started laughing again. "That's a lot of stuff for your 'not much.' When did you reset your standard for 'not much' and 'a lot?'"

"I don't know," I said, ducking under the blanket again. "And now, I request the permission to go to sleep from my supreme big sister."

Melissa chuckled and got into bed. "You have my permission to go to sleep, Dana Katherine Scully, who just raised her standard for 'not much.'"

"Fair enough," I mumbled sleepily.

***

_That's not as good as I'd like it to be… hopefully it d__idn't__ suck. I have a hobby of slapping myself hard in the face, and the only thing that can stop me from doing so is… REVIEWS from YOU! So, like the last chapter, can I have something from you? Reviews? Feedback? Constructive criticism? Flames? Anything???_

_Again, thanks for reading! Hopefully you enjoyed it, even if just part of it. I'm gonna stop my blabbering now. See you in the reviews!___


	3. September

_One thing that I think needs to be clarified. Mulder did NOT sit in the freshmen side of the cafeteria because he had no friend. It's because I couldn't let him sit in chairs that could collapse any time! I know that some chairs in my school cafeteria's senior section collapsed just about two months ago, and God, that was hilarious, unless you're the person sitting in that chair. And many great seniors (fine, they're college freshmen now, but you get my point) sat in the freshmen side just because freshmen DO get the best chairs and tables! And in my school's case, they have the best lighting so you can get some homework done. ___

_And a thank-you to Blacktrillium for pointing out that it's kinda awkward for Mulder to call Scully by her last name. My beta went through the chapter __after she got back from her vacation, _and she agreed on that one. So, that being fixed, I'm just gonna move on now!_  
  
Beyond Yesterday_

It didn't take me long to get settled into the high school; it took me even less time to get used to my increasing workload. And it wasn't long before the classes become all mundane, gray and boring.

And it wasn't long before I found myself glancing at the clock during English class—which was fourth period, by the way—and hoping it would end soon so that I could hop into the cafeteria and find the answer to almost all of my questions.

***

One day during the last week of September, Anna was telling me that she switched her schedule around a bit just before the bell that signaled the end of fourth period rang. I was copying down the homework, and wasn't paying much attention to her until she was almost done talking.

 "…So I switched my gym and lunch period, and guess what?"

 "What?" I replied absent-mindedly.

 "We'll have the same lunch period from now on! Isn't that exciting?"

 "We'll have _what?" I jerked my head up so suddenly that my neck hurt._

 "Same lunch period," she was looking at me in a funny way. "I know that you'd be glad, but I wasn't expecting a reaction like that."

 "Just surprised that you'd do that for me," I lied. None of my few close friends had the same lunch period with me; we only saw each other during classes. And I had enjoyed sitting with Mulder. He always sat and talked with me, and even gave me help with homework sometimes, if I asked him to. Not that I don't enjoy Anna's company—she had been a great friend all along, but I liked the way things were, and I didn't want any of it to change, not even in the slightest details.

The fifth period class was coming in, so we had to hurry up and move out. Once we were into the hallway, someone called Anna's name. She turned to see who it was, and when she turned back, her expression was one that I had never seen before, a mixture of being happy and vexed at the same time.

 "Who was it?" I asked.

 "My senior partner at the welcoming ceremony," she said with a slight smug on her face. "He said that he couldn't tell that I am a freshman when I told him that I was his partner. He then asked me if I was being held back!" She tilted her head back and laughed; somehow I connected the image of Anna laughing to the Weird Sisters in _Macbeth. I frowned, and then shook my head, trying to clear the image and connection out of my brain._

But they were still there, and they refused to go away.

 "Well, you've always been great with boys," I said carelessly. _Unlike me,_ I added silently. But she didn't need to hear that aloud; Anna had always known.

 "Yeah," she said, tossing her long, hazel hair. "Maybe I should give you a few lessons sometime, eh?"

 "No thanks."

We walked into the cafeteria, and I spotted someone waving in our direction in the senior section. "Is that your partner?" I asked Anna, and she turned to have a better look.

 "Yep. That's him alright. Come on," she said, grabbing my arm, just like before the welcoming ceremony. "We can go sit with the seniors! Wouldn't that be cool?"

I pulled my arm free and looked at the senior section. There weren't any other freshmen sitting over there. "I think I'll be more comfortable sitting in the freshmen section."

Anna put her hands on her hip and stared at me. "C'mon Dana, don't be such a chicken. It'll be fun."

 "I'll do with you another day," I replied firmly, glancing at the freshmen side. The table that Mulder and I usually occupied during this period was out of view, so I couldn't be sure if he was there or not.

 "Okay," Anna said, looking both disappointed and relieved. "I'll see you later, then."

 "Yeah, later." I watched her disappearing into the senior section, and then proceeded to the other side of the cafeteria.

Mulder was sitting at his usual table, munching on his sandwich and surveying the freshmen around him. I went over to him and sat down.

 "So it's been a month and you still haven't found your own empty table," he joked, swallowing the last bite.

 "No such luck," I said, taking out my lunch. 

 "Was that your friend?" he nodded in the direction of the opposite side of the cafeteria.

 "Yeah. Best friend since sixth grade."

 "She's a freshman?"

 "Uh-huh."

 "Doesn't look like one. But appearance can be deceiving."

I laughed. "Half of the boys in ninth grade are after her."

 "Hmm. She doesn't seem like the type of person you'd hang out with."

I nearly choked on my sandwich. "What do you mean?"

 "I don't know… it's just weird. You know there are geek people and cheerleader people?"

 "Wait a minute Mulder… are you saying that I look like a geek and my friend looks like a cheerleader?"

He looked away. "I'm just saying that you two seem to be opposite side of the spectrum. Besides, you don't find a very good-looking geek everyday."

 "Thanks, Mulder."

 "You're welcome, Dana."

***

The next day during my lunch period, when Mulder was helping me answer the reading questions for _The Metamorphosis_, Anna decided to show up. She slapped her copy of the short story on the table so hard that I thought my orange juice was going to spill.

 "Remember what old Cooney said on the first day of class?" She didn't wait for my answer before she went on. "He said that he came to teach high school students because he wanted to remember what it was like to be young! Well, he hasn't been doing a great job, has he? I feel like I'm getting ten years older after this story!"

She stopped to take a deep breath, and then she spotted Mulder. She smiled the smile that I saw so many times during school dances when she saw someone good-looking enough in her standard, and my heart sank so fast and loud that I was surprised no one had noticed it.

And there was also something that was bugging me: I didn't know why I felt so depressed when Anna smiled Mulder; it just seemed—so wrong.

 "Hey there," she said in a naïve tone as she tried to squeeze in between us. "I've never seen you before; you new to this school?"

 "Anna, he's been spending more time here than the two of us combined!" I hissed at her, as I reluctantly shifted in the long bench to make space for her. 

Her eyes widened as she came to realization. "You must be Dana's partner at the welcoming ceremony!" She exclaimed, and then barked a laugh. "How come you're sitting on the freshmen side of the cafeteria?"

Mulder only shrugged. "The lighting here is better for doing homework," he replied simply.

 "Sure," she was now studying him in a funny way that I didn't like at all. It was almost like she was a mountain lion and he was the rabbit she wanted for dinner tonight.

 "Do you want some help with those study questions?" Mulder said, picking up Anna's copy of _The Metamorphosis and handed it to her. "I remember about every detail of this story; it was just so unique and interesting."_

 "No way!" Anna exclaimed. "This story? Interesting? I don't see what's so interesting about a man turning into something like—an amoeba!"

 "It symbolizes his inability to survive in the society," I cut in, trying to remember Mulder's explanation when I asked him what he thought about the meaning of the transformation. "Being a vermin, or amoeba, as you put it, I mean." I added quickly when Anna glanced at me in that "you're talking in Greek here" way. Mulder gave me a thumb-up, and I grinned.

Anna opened her packet of study questions and looked into Mulder's eyes as she listened to his interpretation of the questions. _What's wrong with this picture?_ I asked myself silently. The answer was obvious: Anna was here.

And I want her out of here right now, even when she was my best friend for the past three years.

The bell rang and Anna was so startled that her knees hit the table as she tried to get up. "Damn! And now I have to get to the other side of the building in five minutes!"

 "Don't stop at the bathroom and you won't be late," I said, picking up my notebook and stuffing it into my binder.

 "Easier to say than done," she muttered, and then turned to Mulder with the most brilliant smile on her face. "It's very nice meeting you—"

 "Mulder."

 "Mulder. Alright then, see you around later!"

She disappeared into the hallway, and I asked Mulder, "What do you think?"

 "Definitely the other side of the spectrum," he commented. "What do you have next?"

 "Me? Global History. What about you?"  
  


 "Psychology. That's close to your classroom. We'd better get going."

 "Alright." I said, aiming my brown paper bag that had been crumpled into a ball at the closest trash can. "Bulls-eye!"

 "You should try out for the basketball team," Mulder suggested, chuckling in that deep, good-natured way I came to known and like so much.

 "I'm too short for that, just in case you haven't noticed." Now I felt much easier talking, with Anna out of sight. I knew that she was my best friend, but there was this feeling that I couldn't get rid off of. I kept feeling that she was going to steal Mulder away from me, like what I've watched her doing for the past three years.

And it made me feel even weirder because Mulder and I were just friends.

At least, that's what I told myself.

***

_My beta said that I'm getting eviler and one day I might become just like my sister… ewwww… that's just... not right, and I have no interests in gossips in general._

_Anyway, I need your opinion! What event should I use for the October chapter? Mulder's birthday, or Halloween? I can't do both because I have a habit of drawing story board for every story, and I'm running out of paper in my sketch book… Or is there a date in October that's even more important than those two?  Vote in the review! See you guys later!_

_Oh, and thanks for reading. I'm really, really sorry if you think I'm too mean to Scully, turning her best friend into a fiend. But since I went through that myself, I'll make sure that she'll come out alright in the end. =)_


	4. October

_I've told someone that there won't be an update this week, but since I can't sleep (it's four in the morning) due to the excitement about leaving for camp and caffeine in my tea, I guess I might as well as cough the October thingy up right now._

_Hmm… so many people want to see Mulder's birthday for October, but I'm way too lazy to throw him an early party right now, so I'm just going use Halloween. However, I may throw a party just for him when his birthday comes… I've been doing that for at least four years and I don't see how been a junior should make the tradition stop._

_***_

Beyond Yesterday

One morning I woke up early because the room was too cold; we forgot to close the window last night. I looked over at Melissa's side of the room; she had curled herself up, like the cocoon of a butterfly. I slipped out of my bed to close the window.

My hands stopped as I glanced up and down the street; the trees planted along the street had turned to the shades of red and gold just overnight. I rubbed my eyes and breathed in the cold air, and shut the window. It couldn't be. It took time. I must have ignored it, trying to sort everything out, including the shock created by Anna's abrupt decision of switching her schedule.

Anna's face came to mind; she hadn't been sitting with her senior partner for the past week. She had been sitting with Mulder and I, always squeezing in between us, asking him questions that I was positive she could had answered on her own.

My alarm clock started beeping, and it pushed Anna out of my mind. Melissa was growling under her blanket; she had stayed up until two in the morning for her chemistry homework. I turned off the alarm clock, and tiptoed down the hall and into the bathroom to start my daily routine.

***

Mom was the only other person in the kitchen when I walked in for breakfast. "Good morning, Mom," I greeted, slinging my bag onto a chair.

 "'Morning Dana," she smiled, and handed me my toast and juice. "Have you seen the trees outside?"

I nodded as I sipped my juice. "It was gorgeous."

 "Yes, and which reminds me… Halloween is just a little more than two weeks away."

 "So soon?"

 "Yes. I think we should go get a few pumpkins and you kids can carve out the lantern. Oh, and about your trick-or-treating costume…"

 "Mom!" I protested, laughing. "I'm too old for that!"

 "Really? I didn't notice that. But I think Melissa is planning on going this year; I heard her discussing it with her friend on the phone."

 "They are planning on going to a party, and so are Bill and Charlie," I replied, munching on my toast. "I'm the only one who's not going to anyone's party; I'm way too unpopular for that."

 "Don't be silly, sweetheart;" Mom looked alarmed as she studied my face over the rim or her coffee cup. "You have your own friends. What about Anna? You two never go anywhere without each other."

 "I'm afraid I'll have to cross her off my tiny list of friends," I said gloomily, grabbing the second piece of toast and buttering it. "She's been trying to squeeze in between me and Mulder for the past week and half. It seems like she wants to be his friend rather than mine."

 "Mulder?" Now Mom's wearing the typical Scully family expression: the cocked eyebrow. "Who's this Mulder? You've never talked about him."

 "He's my senior partner during the welcoming ceremony—I don't think Bill likes him too much so I've been trying to avoid bringing up his name," I explained.

 "Oh," Mom looked thoughtful as she tried to process everything through her mind, which was always organized, like Dad's. "So my dear little girl, is this… is this jealousy I'm sensing?"

 "No way!" I exclaimed without thinking. But the feeling that came up every time Anna was around was so foreign to me that I was never able to identify it. Could it really be jealousy? But then, what made me jealous? What's so wrong about sharing a new friend with my best friend for the past three years?

I could hear my brothers and sister stumbling down the stairway, pushing and hissing at each other; I could just see Melissa making faces to Bill while he tried to smack her in the shoulders, but missed as usual. Chaos was about to ensue in the kitchen, and I decided that it was time for me to leave.

 "I'll see you later Mom," I called out as I grabbed my bag and darted out of the back door.

***

 "Hey Dana! Over here!" 

I followed the source of the voice, and found Mulder standing next to a car that was clearly fresh out of the showroom. "How do you like my birthday present from my parents?"

 "It's your birthday?!"

 "Yeah. And don't say that you forgot it because I've never mentioned it. Anyway, what do you think of it."

 "It's not your car," I commented, studying the vehicle. "Unless your mother picked it."

 "Oh yeah? And what makes you think that way?"

 "This is way too small for a six feet tall guy, Mulder. Besides, you're standing on the wrong side of the car."

 "Another good observer," a female voice said from within the car. It was followed by the owner of the voice herself. My heart was ready to sink again when Mulder's voice cut in.

 "Dana, this is Ellie Rosenberg, my next door neighbor. Ellie, this is Dana Scully, my freshmen partner from the ceremony; she is smart as hell, by the way."

 "Which will definitely come in handy if she decides to join us in math team or Science Olympiad," Ellie said, and we shook hands; her hand was tiny but full of strength. "Nice meeting you, Dana. You've got to join us in both teams—we really could use another brilliant mind. Last year we didn't even make it to the regional in either event! That was such a shame and disappointment." And then she turned to Mulder and said, "Gotta run now; Mrs. Jenson wants our poster before class and I don't know why, but I'll deliver it to her. You want a ride home?"

 "Yeah. Thanks," Mulder replied. He watched her walking into the building, and then turned to me. "She decided to give me a luxury ride because it's my birthday _and _because my car absolutely refused to start this morning."

 "Oh, too bad for you," I said, and I added quickly, "Your car must've hated you."

 "It hated everyone in the family," he commented casually. "It refuses to start on the birthday of the person who's planning on driving it."

_Except your sister, _I thought. _The damned car never gets to know her because she disappeared._

Anna was no where in sight and I was grateful. My morning was totally tangled up.

 "So, what are you planning on doing for Halloween?" I asked.

 "Nothing," he replied, stopping at his locker.

 "Nothing? Absolutely nothing? No parties?"

 "Not every senior loves parties. I don't. Ellie isn't too keen on partying either. But she's going trick-or-treating with her younger siblings, so she's got something to do."

 "You can go trick-or-treating too," I blurted, surprised by the slight traces of sadness, maybe even sorrow, in his tone.

 "Me?" he laughed dryly. "Remember, Ellie is short enough to be mistaken for an eighth grader, with costumes and makeup on. There's no way people would mistaken a six feet tall guy for an eighth grader."

 "You can say that you've got big bones," I said stubbornly.

 "Sure, big bones."

 "Hey, have you ever gone trick-or-treating as a kid?"

 "Yeah sure. I made up a silly song when I was nine and I'd go knock on the door, then me and my—"

He stopped abruptly; he just let the sentence hanging there, unfinished. But I knew what he was going to say. He and his sister used to sing the song he made up when they went trick-or-treating together.

I tried to say something, but the bell rang. He turned away from me to close his locker. "See you fifth period," he said without looking back at me.

 "Yeah," I replied, my voice heavy. "See you."

***

 "Mom, look at this one!" Charlie pointed at a pumpkin on the ground. "What do you think?"

It's just a week from Halloween and Mom suggested that we make jack-o-lanterns, just like all the years before. So here we are, out in the chilly October wind on a farm, trying to pick out the perfect pumpkins, just like the other families surrounding us.

 "It looks good, Charlie," Mom bent down to take a good look at the pumpkin. "The shape's just right. Now we just need one more…"

 "Mom, Mom!" Melissa shouted above the wind, trying to lift a pumpkin that looked heavy. "What about this one? Can I smash it on Bill's head? Please?"

 "Melissa!" Mom laughed. Charlie and I followed. Bill glared at Melissa and she glared back. We laughed harder.

 "Now cut it out, both of you," Mom said. "Dana, you can pick the last one."

 "I've already picked," I said. "Melissa, you pick. You're the only person who hasn't made a choice so far."

 "It'd be pointless to pick one if Mom won't let me smash it on Bill's head," Melissa replied, tucking loose strands of hair behind her ear.

This time everyone laughed, including Bill.

***

Halloween night. It's my first Halloween I spent at home ever since I was six, as Mom stated. I've got no parties to go to, and I've already declared that I was too old for trick-or-treating.

Melissa, Charlie and Bill were all at parties—different ones, of course. Anna—she had officially started going out with her partner from the welcoming ceremony five days ago, so I guess Mulder was safe for now—was at a senior party, possibly the one that Bill was attending. Her current boyfriend was quite close to Bill.

I was watching TV when the doorbell rang for the first time in the evening. "I'll get it!" I yelled in the direction of the kitchen, and grabbed the large bowl of colorful candies set on the side table.

I opened the door, expecting a crowd of kids holding up their basket, but instead, I heard a familiar voice singing:

 "We paint our faces black, so you can't see our faces

So you can't tell our mommy, if we did play tricks on you.

But it's kinda pointless, since we come out in the dark,

And you won't see us, unless you're a bat.

So give us treats, if you don't want your house painted black!"

I nearly dropped the bowl of candies right on the spot, and the familiar, heartily laughter echoes in my ears.

 "Mulder!" I screeched, placing the bowl down on a chair next to the door. "What are you doing here?" Now I realized that he had black paints on his face, and a few drops of fake blood on the corners of his mouth, and I couldn't help but to scream with laughter.

 "Hey it's your idea, remember?" he said, pulling out a tissue from his coat pocket and wiped off the makeup. "You said I'd pass for an eighth grader who just has big bones."

 "What about—what about that song?" I was laughing so hard I had to gasp for air.

He shrugged. "That's what I made up when I was nine. Told you it was silly."

 "Sure is," I heard footsteps behind me, and I turned around to find my mom standing in the hall.

 "Is everything alright, Dana?" and then she spotted Mulder. "Hello there. I trust that you're not here for trick-or-treating?"

I burst out laughing again. "Mom, this is Fox Mulder. He had nowhere to go, so I told him that he could come over and scare kids away if they get too annoying."

 "Oh, that's great," Mom said, smiling. "The pumpkin pies are ready, by the way. Would you like to have some, Fox?"

I turned to see Mulder's reaction, but he was grinning. "I'd love to, Mrs. Scully."

 "Wonderful! Come on in, then. You can't eat standing in the doorway."

Mom disappeared into the kitchen and I picked up the bowl and let Mulder come in. "You didn't seem to mind my mom calling you by your first name."

 "She's a nice person."

 "Hey, are you suggesting that I'm not nice enough?" I joked, plopping myself down on the living room couch.

 "It's different," he stared at the TV monitor. "By the way, do you believe in the existence of ghosts and zombies?"

I picked a candy out of the bowl and unwrap it, popping the sweet fragment into my mouth. "We can always take a trip to the cemetery."

He grinned, helping himself to a candy. "Sure, but I don't think your brother is going to like that."

 "Don't mind Bill. His brain parts usually refuse to function at the same time."

We both laughed, and turned our attention to the movie, in which a zombie was chasing a girl through a cemetery.

This was going to be the best Halloween ever.

***

_YAY! I coughed out the whole thing in two hours! That's a record for me! But I had the story board ready to go, so I guess I shouldn't be surprised._

_Again, thanks for reading. Now, REVIEW! It's an order from your supreme conspirators! No, just kidding. But reviews and constructive criticism are always welcome and appreciated._

_AND OFF TO CAMP I GO! (Disappearing into a cloud of smoke)_


	5. November

_Back from camp… YAY! My head's totally messed up, including my TV schedule… I thought that Sex and the City is on 1AM on Sunday, but that's the time for an anime… hate summer camps._

_I don't know if I'm just being paranoid, but I keep having this feeling that my stories are all so repetitious. I don't know… one thing really bad about summer is that my random thoughts start to come out and roam my brain freely without the schoolwork suppressing them down…_

  
Beyond Yesterday

I hopped into the cafeteria at the start of fifth period as usual, and my eyes automatically moved to the table on the freshmen side where Mulder and I sat everyday. But he was not there. I shrugged and walked over, pulling out my lunch. Maybe a vexing teacher delayed him. Maybe he was in one of those subject help rooms. He probably would be showing up later. Ten minutes later someone showed up. But it wasn't Mulder; it was Ellie. 

"Hey there," She said, gathering her hair into a bun. I looked at her questioningly, and she replied, "Chemistry drop day." 

"You look like as if something exploded in your face," I said, noticing traces of black soot on her face. 

"Almost." She waved her hand around her head angrily as if chasing away flies, "I was helping a freshie with her lab makeup, and she heated the whole thing up way too high—we're using Fahrenheit and she thought it was Celsius—so the thing started boiling in less in a minute. You should see the mess." 

"Sure. Hey, do you know where Mulder is?" 

"Mulder?" she cocked her head to one side. "Haven't seen him yet. Wait a minute—what's today's date?" 

"November twenty-seventh," I replied, wondering what did the date got to do with Mulder's mysterious disappearance. 

"Aha—that's it!" she slammed a fist down on the table, nearly spilling our orange juice, and startling some other people sitting around us. "His sister disappeared on November twenty-seventh. That's why."

 "His sister disappeared on November twenty-seventh?" I repeated numbly; to me it didn't seem to be a good reason to miss school for one day.

 "Yeah. Hey, why don't you go over and visit him this afternoon?"

 "Me?" I looked up at her, surprised. "Why?"

 "I think it would be the best for him if he could find someone to tell his story which nobody believes," she said, and then added, "I'd go myself, but I've been listening to his story for four years and I've got to stay after school to help another kid with his math homework. Got to get more volunteer hours—just need six more and I'll have ninety hours on record!"

I couldn't think of anything else to do but to stare right at her. "You spent all those hours on volunteer work?"

Ellie smiled, looking quite pleased with herself. "Yep. Looks good on college applications. You should start doing that too. Anyway, are you going to visit him or not?"

I shrugged. "Sure, as soon as I get my biology and geometry homework done."

 "I'll help you out right now," she said eagerly, her hand searching for a pencil in her bag. "Now where did my pencil go? I'm positive—"

 "That you used it was a hair stick," I said, pointing at her bun. Her hand quickly reached behind her head and pulled the pencil free from her hair.

 "Damn. Need to go shopping for hair sticks this weekend… wanna come?"

 "I'll have to ask my mom first," I replied, pulling out the packets my teachers had handed out during class.

 "Okay. Oh and remember, when you go visit Mulder this afternoon… don't try to judge his story. Just listen."

***

I knocked on the wooden door and stepped back, wishing that I hadn't told Ellie I'd come. Mulder and I were friends, but we were not that familiar with each other. I didn't feel comfortable to share his secret.

As I waited for someone to open the door, I tried to imagine what it would be like, if Melissa was taken away from me. Sure, we've fought before, but didn't all siblings do that? I probably would never be able to stand my parents and brothers without her.

The door opened, making a creaking sound and interrupted my train of thoughts. A mid-age woman, whom I assumed to be Mulder's mother, appeared in the doorway. "Yes?" she inquired. I took a deep breathe. Relax, relax. You're just dropping by because he wasn't in school and you're worried. No big deal.

 "Uh, is Mulder… is Fox home?"

 "Yes he is. May I ask your name?"

 "I… I am Dana Scully, his friend from school… he wasn't in school today so I thought I'd just, uh, drop by and see if he's… alright."

She cocked a questioning eyebrow at me. Just like Mulder. "Yes I believe that he is alright. At least, that was what he said. Today is… just a date that sometimes prove to be too much for him."

 "Samantha disappeared today, didn't she?" I blurted. Mrs. Mulder stared at me, her look a mixture of suspicion and shock, and I quickly added, "Ellie told me. You know, Ellie Rosenberg."

A faint smile curled up at the corners of her mouth. "Ah yes, Ellie. She's a nice girl," her eyes surveyed my face. "And you must be one too. Fox and Ellie both got an instinct when it comes to people. Come on in."

She waved me into the living room, and then went to the foot of the stairs. "Fox? A friend is here to see you. Come down."

 "Is it Ellie?" Mulder's familiar voice drifted down the stairs; "She can come up."

Mrs. Mulder glanced back at me. "No Fox, your friend Dana is here. Now come down, please."

There was a pause, and then he said, "She can come up. I don't mind."

His mother sighed rather heavily, "Well, I suppose he can have it his way for today." She turned to face me. "This way, please."

I followed her up the stairs, thinking what a queer family this was.

***

 "Didn't think I'd see you around here," Mulder said as I stood in the doorway of his room, watching him lying flat on his back in his bed.

 "You weren't in school and I was worried," I said, and he turned his head to look at me.

 "That's really thoughtful of you. Where's Ellie?"

 "She has to stay after school to help someone with homework."

He sat up in his bed. "Stocking up her volunteer hours again, I see."  
I stared at him and he looked down on his hands. Finally I said, "Do you want to talk about your sister… how she disappeared?"

He smiled humorlessly. "You won't believe it. No one has ever believed it. Not even my parents. Or Ellie. Sometimes I don't believe it myself either."

I went into his room and pulled a chair next to his bed. "I usually would prefer to share the load with someone in this kind of situation. Take some weight off the shoulders, you know."

He shook his head. "You won't understand."

 "Come on. It's not like I've never lost a family member before. My grandfather died when I was ten. I know how much it hurts, to have someone close to you taken away."

He suddenly seemed very interested in the patterns on his bed cover. "But your grandfather did not float out of the window in a beam of blue light, did he?"

 "No. Actually, he was carried to a cemetery by my father and uncles," I admitted.

He lay down on his bed again and covered his eyes with one arm. Neither of us said anything for a few minutes, until he pushed himself up against the wall. "You should go home. Don't you have homework?"

 "Ellie helped me get them out of the way. And I'm not leaving until I know what happened on this day years ago."

He stared at me and I stared back. He sighed, throwing a pillow at me. "We're not in a staring contest, Dana."

I caught the pillow and threw the pillow back at him. "I'm not giving up either way."

He placed the pillow down and leaned against the wall. "You sure you want to know?"

I nodded. "Why else would I be here?"

He grinned wearily. "Okay, then." Closing his eyes as if trying to concentrate on the memory, he began in a dreamy tone.

 "It all happened when I was twelve. We were just normal siblings, you know. Fighting and arguing with each other and our parents…"

***

Mulder opened his eyes and looked at me. I was still in shock, and I bet my jaws were touching the floor. "Told you that you won't believe it."

 "It's just hard to believe; you don't hear things like that happening everyday."

 "Yeah?" suddenly his eyes flickered to life, filled with anger, sorrow, and confusion all at the same time. "I bet it's happening everyday; but they are covering it up."

 "They?" I looked at him, confused. "Who are 'they?'"

Mulder waved a hand dismissively. "You won't believe. You won't want to believe it if I tell you right now. Besides," he glanced at the clock, "You should get going now. It's late."

I looked up at the clock on the wall. It was almost six in the evening. "Oh no!" I jumped out of the chair, grabbing my bag. "I'll be late for dinner!"

He got up from the bed and stretched. "See? That's how long it takes to tell a crazy story."

 "It's not crazy," I protested, although all my logics were screaming that he definitely was a nutcase, just like Bill and his friends said. My intuition, which lacked exercise, however, was telling me that Mulder was telling the truth. He was telling exactly what he saw and knew.

 "Thanks, even if you do think it's crazy." He grinned, leading me to the front door.

His mother smiled at me warmly as she handed me my jacket and scarf. "You sure you don't want to stay for dinner? Fox's father is going to be late again, so there will be enough for everyone if you stay."

 "Thanks, but my mother doesn't know that I'm here and I don't want to make her worry."

 "Well, you're always welcomed to stay the next time you visit." She nodded, and then went to the kitchen.

 "Your mother is nice too," I commented, pulling my jacket on. Mulder nodded in agreement.

 "Yeah. She could be unbearable sometimes though."

 "All parents have their 'unbearable moments,' Mulder. That's what makes them parents instead of just people with kids."

We laughed, and I looked at him inquiringly. "I'll see you fifth period tomorrow?"

 "Fifth period, tomorrow." He nodded. "Thanks for being here and listening to me, Dana. It means—it means a lot to me. Not a lot of people are willing—"

I cut him off before he could finish the sentence. "It's nothing." I could feel tears swelling behind my eyes when I looked into his sad puppy eyes, and I held them back stubbornly and managed a smile. "That's what friends are for, right?"

He smiled back. "Yeah. That's what friends are for. So… see you later."

 "Yeah, later." I turned around and started walking down the street.

And when I heard the door clicked shut, I cried. For Mulder and Samantha.

***

_Oh crap… my mind still isn't working the right way. I hope this didn't suck. I was working on another story but had to stop in the middle because my mind refused to cooperate. And it takes work to write a story that involves high school during summer._

_Anyway, if you enjoyed the November chapter, REVIEW! If you didn't, well then… flame away. They will be appreciated and used to burn down all Regents review books._

_See you guys in the reviews… bye now! Got to catch some more sleep…_


	6. December

Beyond Yesterday

It snowed on the first day of December. Big, soft pure white flakes. Melissa and I were walking home from school when it started. 

"Hey it's snowing!" She said excitedly, opening a palm to catch a flake. "The first flakes of the year!"

I laughed, and reached out to catch the flakes. A particularly big one fell into my hand. It felt cold, but not the unpleasant kind of coldness. I tried to blow it away, but my warm breath melted the snowflake before it even came close to the edge of my palm.

"It's not a fallen eyelash, Dana!" Melissa said, laughing. "You don't get to make a wish by blowing it away!"

"None of my 'eyelash wishes' ever came true, anyway," I replied, looking up at the darkening sky. "It looks like a blizzard is on its way."

Melissa tossed her head, her auburn hair floating in the chilly December wind. "Who cares? Hey," she suddenly said, her eyes gleaming with enthusiasm. "Let's catch some flakes with our mouth! It'll be fun!"

"We haven't done that since we were kids," I protested.

"Yeah? Well guess what? We'll be kids again today to celebrate the first snowflakes of the year!" She grabbed my shoulder and started shaking me. "Come on, what do you say? It's gonna be fun!"

"Okay, okay! Just stop shaking me, I'm starting to feel dizzy."

A wide grin appeared on my sister's face. "That's the effect I was hoping to get."

***

"Dana, would you mind answer the phone dear?" Mom called. I got up from the dinning room table reluctantly, and went to the living room to answer the phone.

"Hello?"

"Hey Dana, it's Ellie," Ellie's familiar, enthusiastic voice rang in my ear just a bit too loud, and I held the receiver away for a moment before I put it next to my ears. "Are you there?" She asked, traces of doubt evident in her voice now. I laughed.

"Your voice was too loud, that's all."

"Oops, sorry about that! Anyway," I could hear the sound of paper being shuffled on the other end of the phone, "Do you want to go Christmas shopping with me this afternoon?"

"Just a moment," I said, and placing a hand over the receiver, I hollered into the kitchen, "Mom, can I go shopping with my friend after lunch?"

"Sure Dana, of course you can go," Mom called back. I released my hand from the receiver and replied into it.

"I'd love to go with you, Ellie. When do you want to pick me up?"

"Hmm. I'd say two is good. Is that okay for you?"

"Sure."

"Okay then, see you at two!"

I placed the phone down and went to the dinning room and picked up my book. Dad was setting the table, while Mom called out instructions from the kitchen.

"Need any help?" I asked Dad, setting my book aside. He looked up at me and smiled.

"No, but I'm sure your mother will need that. Run along now."

I entered the kitchen and watched Mom stirring something in a pot. It smelled like vegetable soup. "Need any help, Mom?"

"Yes Dana. Now, would you get the soup bowls for me? They are all in the cupboard. By the way," she glanced at me sideways, "Was that Anna? How does she like the high school?"

"That wasn't her," I replied, stacking up the soup bowls and brought them to the kitchen counter. "Although I have a feeling that she's doing just fine; she's got a senior boyfriend and she's extremely proud of that."

"Hmm. It seems like you two are just leading different lives now," she observed, turning off the stove. "Then, who was it?"

"It was Ellie."

"Is she another person that Bill doesn't like much so you try to avoid mentioning her name?"

"Mom, I think Bill dislikes every person that has any previous contact with Mulder, and Ellie is in contact with him on daily basis."

"Well, Bill might be a bit extreme and biased when it comes to social groups, but don't forget, he's still your brother and you need to have some level of respect for him. Now, tell me about this Ellie; is she Fox's girlfriend?"

"They are next door neighbors and really good friends," I answered her question with full honesty while helping her pouring the soup into bowls.

"So you're not jealous this time?"

"Mom!" I was startled and came close to upsetting one of the bowls, which was half-full of steaming vegetable soup. "I was never jealous of anything or anyone!"

"Uh-huh, or so you say so."

I shook my head and carried the bowls to the dining room on a tray.

Really, how annoying could parents be? Don't they ever get tired?

***

"Why do people always leave their shopping until the last moment?" Ellie grumbled as we shoved through the crowd.

The shopping center was packed. Most of the crowd seemed to know exactly what they wanted as they scuttled in and out of stores, with a long list dangling in their hands or hastily stuffed in their handbags.

"Don't forget the fact that we're here too," I said, trying to squeeze myself between two women in order to keep up with Ellie. They glared at me and I glared back. They turned their head away, and I heard one of them saying, "What's with today's kids? No more respects whatsoever."

Ellie grabbed my arm. "Hey, try to keep up with me. I'm not very patient with this crowd right now and all I want to do is get out of here."

"Sure. Fine. Whatever." I replied, and she laughed so hard and had to stop. A few people nearly bumped into her and shot her weird looks. They all turned away when I glared at them. Funny. I didn't know that my glare was that nasty. Maybe it would work on Bill too.

"You sound so funny when you say those words in a row," Ellie said as her hysterical laughter finally died down. "How many people are left on your shopping list, anyway?"

"Just Mulder," I replied, glancing at my short list. "It's rather hard to decide since I still don't really know him."

"Get him a book or something. I'm nowhere near original or creative when it comes to Mulder either. He doesn't really care about presents, anyway."

She got up and we started walking again, but then I saw Anna and another boy walking in our direction. I quickly turned around and Ellie followed, although she seemed to be confused.

"What's the matter?"

"Just saw someone that I don't want to see at the moment."

"Oh. Hey you know what?" she suddenly pointed at a store on our right, "I would have forgotten to go in there if you didn't turn this way!"

I followed her finger and saw the store she was pointing at. "What do you want with an arts and crafts store at this time of the year?"

"Ran out of yarn last night," she said, dragging me toward the store.

"You know how to knit?"

"Hey, there's more about me underneath the books. You just have to dig through them or just grab and throw them into an open fireplace. Then you'll find the real me… quite talented in something not so academic." 

"Yeah, like knitting. What were you knitting, anyway?"

"A scarf for my youngest brother. There's a thing that's really neat about kids: when they're little they'll be more than gladly to receive anything you made by hand as long as you accept what they made for you. But after they're all grown up, they shrink away when you try to give handmade stuff to them." She cocked her head to one side as she browsed through the colorful yarns. "That's one of the things that make Mulder different from other seniors. He's always like a kid in some ways. Last year I gave him a dreamcatcher I made in studio art class, and I swear he had jumped at least three feet into the air or kissed me. Now what color was I using…"

I smiled and followed her down the aisle, her words still echoing in my ears. _Kids always like handmade stuff… Mulder being just like a kid, in some ways…_

"…One thing bad about my brother is that he refuses to have anything pink on him, and he says that red is just a really dark shade of pink…" Ellie was saying, but I wasn't listening at all because something clicked in my brain.

"Dana?" Ellie turned around when she realized that I wasn't following her. She walked over to me, and then waved a hand in front of my eyes. "You okay? Are you even in there?"

"Ellie you're brilliant!" I threw my arms around her and gave her a bear hug. Something very unusual for me to do, mind you.

"I'm very glad to be of assistance in any way," she said, clearly confused. "But I do have to remind you that we're in a store… and you're strangling me here."

***

I knocked on Mulder's door and stepped back, this time brushing snowflakes off my hair.

The door opened, and Mulder appeared in the doorway. "Hey," he said, smiling at me. "I was thinking about going over to your place to give you your present."

"Good thing I came first."

"Yeah, don't want to run into your brother Bill on a day that's supposed to be peaceful." He laughed, and small puffs of vapor floated into the December morning air. "Would you like to come in?"

"No thanks; I'm just here to give you your present," I replied, holding up the small package and handed it to him.

"Oh, for me? That's too kind of you."

"Don't say that!"

"Just kidding. You'd better come in, anyway. It must be freezing outside."

I stepped inside obediently.

Mulder was staring at me eagerly. "Can I open it?"

"Sure, just don't keep your hope up."

He carefully removed the layer of wrapping paper, and I made another note to myself: that's another difference between Mulder and every other guy I knew: they usually just tear the wrapping paper away, no matter how good it looked, or how much time a person might have spent on it.

"Wow!" He was holding up the scarf I made, his eyes widened to the size of saucers. "You made this for me?"

"Yeah. It's that bad, huh?"

"No, it's great. Thanks for a present so… unique."

"Thanks." We smiled at each other; then he said, "Oh, I almost forgot. I'd better go get your present."

"Okay," he dashed up the stairs, and then came back with a beautifully wrapped small package in one hand.

"I never knew you are that good at wrapping," I said.

"No I can't wrap presents at all… actually I asked my mom to wrap this for me because I don't want to ruin it."

"Oh," he handed me the packet, and it's my turn to stare at him expectantly. "Can I open it? Can I?"

"Sure, go ahead. But I really have to warn you, don't get your hope up."

I peeled off the wrapping as gentle as I could. Mulder watched my fingers moved across the package. "It's not like you're going to use the wrapping paper again, you know."

"Hey, you were just as careful as I am right now. Besides, how do you know that I'm not going to use the paper again?"

I removed the wrapping paper, folded it, and stuffed it into my coat pocket. And then I look at my present. And then I looked up at Mulder. He seemed to be a little embarrassed.

"I'm not the most creative person when it comes to presents, especially for girls, just to let you know. But every girl that I'm familiar with keep a journal, so I thought…" his voice trailed off and the sentence hung in the air, unfinished.

"Well, as a matter of fact, I do keep one," I said brightly; I wasn't expect anything from him, and I was happy that he had included me on his list. "But it's more like 'weekly entry,'" I added. "I'm usually too lazy on weekdays."

"Well, that's understandable." We smiled at each other again, and then he said, "Thanks for the scarf."

"And thanks for the journal," I said as he opened the door. And then something fell on my head. "Ouch!" I said, turning around and tried to find what just hit me. "What was that?"

He quickly bent down and picked up the green object. "Oh no… it's my parent's mistletoe… I told them that they could hang it somewhere else, maybe their bedroom door… but they don't listen." He reached up and hung it on the doorframe. "There. Hope they are happy now."

I looked up at the mistletoe. "Hey, do you know that story about the mistletoe?"

"Yeah, you kiss a person and you get stuck with him or her for the rest of your life."

I giggled. "You're so not romantic!"

"Well, there's no need to be romantic. Not yet, anyway."

Silence followed his words as we looked at each other. Then he leaned forward, as if he was going to kiss me. I held my breath.

But he stood straight again and supported himself with a hand on the doorframe. "Sorry, lost balance again."

"Good thing you didn't fall, because it's going to be painful for me," I commented, actually surprised how well I hid my disappointment.

"Yeah. Well, merry Christmas to you, Dana."

"And merry Christmas to you too, Mulder."

He opened the door for me and I stepped out into the rare winter sunshine.

"Good weather for a snowball fight," Mulder said. "You feeling like exercising right now?"

"No, but maybe next time."

"Oh well. Don't slip on the way home. The pavement's icy."

"Thanks for the warning."

He smiled and closed the door. And then the door of the next house flew open and Ellie hopped out, wearing a thick sweater and black jeans. "So? What did he say? Did he like it? Did he give you anything?"

"You've been listening the whole time?" I asked, amazed that she could have heard us.

"Nah. Well, just the part about great weather and snowball fight invitation. Now fill me in. I'm dying of curiosity."

"There's really nothing to be curious about. Really."

"Oh," she looked disappointed. "I've always thought that he liked you, though. I can tell. It's kind of obvious in a few ways that are easily overlooked."

I could feel myself blushing. "You're kidding, right?"

"No way!" she exclaimed, knocking my head lightly. "I never joke about anything that involves Mulder. It's sad enough that nobody takes the disappearance of his sister seriously."

"For a moment I thought he's going to kiss me," I admitted, and disappointment started to rush into my voice. "But he said that he just lost his balance."

"Yeah right. Mulder losing his balance? It's like he saying that aliens are just a bunch of crap that people invented to scare little kids into their beds."

I could tell that she was trying to make me feel better, but my mood wasn't improving. Not much, anyway. 

"But Dana," Ellie continued. "Do you like Mulder? I mean, not just friends, but… you know, in… another way?"

"I don't know. I really don't know at this moment."

"Ah, the confusion of first crush," she was nodding, as if just figured something out.

"But when he leaned down…" I said slowly, "I hoped that he'd kiss me."

"There you go," she beamed at me, her eyes bright with anticipation. "You like him in that… different way."

"And you think that he likes me in that… different way," I quoted her, and she laughed.

The door opened again and a puzzled Mulder stared at us. "What are you two doing on my lawn?"

"Mulder, it's not a lawn," Ellie said, pointing at the snow. "There's no grass, see?"

"Fine then. What are you two doing in my front yard?"

"Gossips," Ellie replied, and barked a wonderful, hearty laugh. "Girl stuff. No boys allowed. Sorry."

"Okay." He went back into the house and closed the door. We laughed again.

"Give him some times," Ellie said, patting my back. "I bet it's his first time that he's had an urge of kissing a girl."

"Under the mistletoe," I added.

"Oooh, does that mean that he wants to spend the rest of his life with you?"

"Stuck with me for the rest of his life, if we put it his way."

She stared at me, and then looked at the house accusingly. "That's so not romantic!"

I shrugged. "According to the subject of our conversation, he has no need to being romantic at the moment."

"Stubborn," she muttered under her breath, and then said, "Hey, I did give you my present before the break, right?"

I nodded. "Yeah, stuffed into my locker with a hand-drawn card, right?"

"Yep. And you gave me your present the day before… so we're even there. Merry Christmas."

"Merry Christmas to you too, Ellie."

***

That night I took out the journal Mulder gave me and take a long, good look at it. I didn't think I'd ever write in it; it's perfect the way it was, blank and untouched.

I placed it back into the drawer in my desk, and thought about the moment when he leaned down.

Maybe Ellie was right; maybe we're really going to get somewhere before June, before he graduated and went somewhere else for college.

I got up from my bed and went over to the window; I pulled open the curtain, and looked at the dark velvet sky that belonged only to winter.

There was no cloud; bright stars scattered across the night sky, like diamonds decorating a black silk dress. Melissa came into the room and joined me.

"Beautiful night," she commented. "Hey look--a shooting star!"

I caught a glimpse of the streak of light, and I quickly closed my eyes.

When I opened my eyes, Melissa was looking at me, smiling. "What wish did you make?"

"I'm not going to tell," I said, climbing into my bed. "It won't come true if I tell you now."

***

_December's done… just seven more chapters to go…_

_Uh, anybody knows a date in January that's… special? Important? Can't use New Year's Day because it's too close to Christmas._

_And thanks to Diana for the suggestion… fine, I made it sound totally fluffy and corny and stuffs like that, but that's the way I am and nobody made a better suggestion…_

_Oh, and to the real Ellie (I based Mulder's next door neighbor on her), enjoy your summer in __London__! And then enjoy your school year in __Texas__! I'll miss you… (sniff)_

_I'm NOT going to tell you what Scully wished for, by the way… it won't come true if I did (wink)._


	7. January

__

My beta completely gave up on helping me shaking off the fluffs said that I can stay this way if I want. But she was successful on making me change the story title oh well, I guess she can have it her way today. 

Beyond Yesterday

One particularly sunny day Elena walked home with me after school. She didn't say much, and I wasn't in the best mood to talk either. We just trudged along the pavement, kicking the snow.

Finally Elena broke the silence by clearing her throat louder than usual. "The first semester will end in two weeks."

"Yeah. And then—"

"Here comes to midterms!"

Both of us giggled as the image of testing papers rushing in our direction came into our minds.

"So, how's life?" Elena asked, her face still red. "I mean, how's school? I haven't seen you a lot lately."

I shrugged. "Not much. You know, it's weird that you can hardly tell that the three of us were best friends for the past three years."

Elena looked up at me. "Three of us?"

"Yeah. You know, me, you, and Anna."

"Oh. Yeah, Anna." She said slowly, cocking her head to one side. "Haven't seen her for like, an eternity. Do you know that Anna broke up with Shawn?"

"Anna broke up with who?" I asked, as I had no idea of what she was talking about.

"Shawn. You know, her senior boyfriend that she was so proud of."

"Oh."

I couldn't think of anything else to say, and Elena probably didn't either.

"I'm sorry," she suddenly blurted, startling me. "I'm really sorry about all this."

"About what?" I asked, placing a hand on her shoulder. "You didn't do anything wrong. You couldn't have done anything wrong; we didn't have any classes together—"

"That's what I had done wrong!" she said, her voice too high for her tiny figure; for a second I thought she was going to explode. "We should've stayed together! But now she's drifting away--"

"There's nothing that you've done wrong," I said firmly. "I don't think anyone knows what's going on with Anna anymore. But I don't give a damn about her if she doesn't want us as her best friends anymore; we still can be friends without her."

She was silent for a moment, as if trying to think everything through in one second; I could almost hear the gears turning in her systematic mind; Anna was the wild one. Me and Elena, we stick to the logic, just to be safe.

"But I'm still worried about her," she said slowly. "Especially when she's out 'hunting' again."

"Hunting?" I laughed dryly. That's a good word for this situation. Hunting.

She looked up at me with a serious expression. "That's not even funny, you know. I mean, she shouldn't be acting on another senior after this one."

Now it was my turn to sigh. "Doesn't she ever learn her lesson?"

"I don't know Dana, I really don't know. But I think you know the guy she's after right now."

My heart was sinking so fast I had trouble just to breath. "Let me guess: Mulder?"

"Yeah, I think that's his name. The guy who sat in the freshmen section."

"He's really nice," I said without thinking.

"That's not my point," Elena said, aiming her snowball at a tree—I didn't realize that she was holding one until now—"I mean," she said, scooping up more snow. "He's a senior and she's a freshman. Not that I believe in senior superiority or any of that bullshit, but I think the only reason that she was always looking for an older boyfriend is because she wants to show off."

My snowball—ice ball, really—dropped out of my hand. The hair on the back of my neck stood up, although they were under the protection of my turtleneck sweater. "Show off?"

"Yeah. You heard me right. And as to my understanding, this Mulder is a good friend of yours, and I certainly don't want Anna to use you or any of your friends just so that she could gather more attention."

"And the same thing apply to you," I said, and I was sincere. I really was.

"Thanks," she blushed. "I hate to tell you this, but I don't think that anybody in the whole school thinks that I'm his or her friend."

"Well guess what? You are my friend! And you'll stay my friend for the rest of--well, our high school life, at least."

"Thanks Dana. It means a lot to me. I mean, you think that we're still friends."

We've reached my house without knowing it, and we almost walked past it. I was wondering why a lot of people seemed to be busy thanking me these days when my mom opened the door.

"Dana, you're late! I was starting to worry—oh hi there Elena," she said, turning her attention to my tiny friend standing next to me. "I haven't seen you in a long time. Would you like to come in for some hot chocolate?" As if trying to get my friend into our house, she added, "I'll give you a ride home later, of course. Wouldn't want you to walk all the way home and catch the flu!"

"Okay," Elena said, more cheerful than she had been for the long walk home. She followed my mother into the house, and I walked in behind her, wondering why Mom was always making some kind of snack; it almost seemed like she expected us to bring friends home every afternoon.

***

I decided to talk Anna straight out of this, so the next day after dropping off my bag and books at home and told Mom where I was going, I walked over to her house.

Anna lived with her mother a block away from my house. Her parents were divorced, but she didn't seem to care about that. The only thing she ever complained is that lacking of a father figure made her hunger for attentions from guys. We used to laugh at it, but it seemed like a bitter fact to me now.

I knocked on the door and waited, wrapping my arms against my body, attempting to block out the cold winter air.

Anna threw the door wide open when she saw it was me. "Dana! I wasn't expecting you to visit. Come on in."

"Thanks," I said, my mouth felt dry. "Anna, we need to talk."

She tossed her head and asked, "Is it about Shawn? I'm sorry that it made you so worried that you had to come over yourself!"

"Yeah. I'm really sorry about that. Listen—"

She interrupted me before I could continue. "Hey, do you want something to eat? Or how about some cocoa? It must be freezing out there."

I shook my head. "No thanks." There was a lump in the back of my throat, and I couldn't couch it out or force it down. Too many warm memories here. It made the walls and floor feel so cold. "I just want to talk."

Anna shrugged and plopped herself down on the carpet. I sat down next to her, not sure how to start on the subject. But she started talking before I could process everything through my mind.

"So how's school?" she chirped in her usual bright way, although her voice sounded just a bit too stiff this time. "I mean, how's everything besides English? Isn't Cooney just terrible? And oh, I'm really, really sorry that I haven't been eating lunch with you lately!"

"It's alright," I said. "I figured that you wanted to spend more time with Shawn. But well, are you alright after this? Elena and I are really worried about you."

She laughed, leaning her head back so that her long hazel hair fell on the floor. "Really? I'm so happy that you guys are still so concerned me. But I figured that Shawn just isn't the right type of guy for me."

"I'm sure that you can get any type of guy that you prefer."

"Sure. Thanks for the compliment." And I could tell she really believed my words. She knew that it was true. "Hey, remember the time when Elena's hair got stuck in the filter of my pool? We thought that she was going to drown. But then you can back with the scissors"

I wasn't listening. I knew that I couldn't listen. I didn't want this. I didn't want the image of Elena yanking her hair and me saving the day to come back. Just like I didn't want Anna to use Mulder to get more attention. 

It didn't matter now that Anna was one of my best friends; Mulder had earned his place in my mind now. He was loyal, which Anna had failed to prove. What did Mulder say about Anna? The other side of the spectrum. I could see that so clearly now it hit me hard in the face. Why didn't I notice before?

"I'm not here to talk about Elena and I'm not here to talk about how many times I've saved the day," I interrupted her, my voice hard and foreign to my own ears. "I want to talk about Mulder."

Anna's expression stiffened. "What about him?"

"We think you're out hunting again, Anna."

She laughed humorlessly "Hunting? What are you talking about?"

"That's the only word that fits what you're doing. Or planning on doing. We've saw it so many times and I want to stop you this time, even if you think I can't."

"Look," she said, her big, cat-like green eyes landed on my face like a pair of bugs. "I don't know what you're talking about. I don't know what's going on with you and Elena anymore. But I'm not interested in Mulder; I'm not interested in your boyfriend, if that's what you want to call him. The high school is full of great guys and he's certainly not the best of them."

My eyes narrowed but I had managed to prevent myself from clutching my hands into fists. "Whatever you say Anna, just stay away from him."

She laughed again, her laughter so fake and cold I thought a window must be open. "Get a grip, Dana Scully. You need to see things more clearly. I suggest a pair of glasses. I'm surprised that nerds like you two are not wearing them yet."

I was so angry that I thought my eyes would pop out any time. I wouldn't allow anyone to insult Elena or me like that. "I don't need glasses and you're the only person who needs to see things more clearly."

"You know," she said coldly, "It was very kind of me to suggest you to get glasses, since we're not friends anymore."

"I already know that," I replied just as coldly. "I've known that for a long time. And I wish that Elena and I had saw that when we were in sixth grade. I guess people do change, but some just take more drastic steps."

"Well, it's too late." She was getting up from the floor now, her eyes blazing. "Now, get out of my house."

"Wouldn't think about staying even if you asked me to," I said, getting to my feet as fast as I could. I didn't want this, I said to myself. But I didn't want to regret what I said to Anna either, because each and every word of it was true.

I yanked open the door and walked out. Anna swore at my back, then slammed the door, sending a cold blast of air at me.

I didn't stop walking until I was back at my house. I threw my coat and scarf on the chair next to the door; Mom would take care of them. I rushed upstairs to my room; luckily Melissa wasn't in there.

I fell onto my bed head-first, and buried my face in my pillow.

"This is way too much for a week before the midterms," I shouted, grateful that the pillow would block my voice so Mom wouldn't know how upset I was.

But surprisingly enough, I didn't cry.

***

__

Well, there you have it. Flame away. This is probably the worst chapter yet. Just hope that I'm not losing grip on things.


	8. February

__

I'm revising the February chapter because uh because I'm in a good mood now? Nah. I'm just never satisfied by whatever was written when my mood is at the bottom. But I'm still very protective over my beloved plants in the flowerbed.

The worst part is, I still don't know what happened to that particular plant!

And the moral of the original February chapter is: don't try to piece everything together during work or when you're upset over a missing plant.

Beyond Yesterday

"For one reason or another, the school has been infected by red and pink cloth, candy, chocolate, and flowers, most of them being roses."

I handed the note to Elena, who nodded and giggled, and then pocketed it.

It was third period on Valentine's Day, a damp, cold Monday morning. Our P. E. teacher was clearly in a good mood, because she let us sit around in the main gym and chat.

"Wait until I show Mark this," Elena said. "I mean, the note," she added quickly. "He's not wearing red or pink either, thank God."

"Too bad high school has separate P. E. class for guys and girls," I said.

"Ah well, some things never change, but other do." She watched a bunch of girls cheer as a group of boys on the other side of the gym made a basket. "Isn't it nice that painting is just one semester long? At least now we have one class together."

"Yes but you're still not with your valentine," I pointed out, and she blushed.

"Yeah, we'd be together if I hadn't switched ceramics and P. E., but still" she stared at the ceiling absent-mindedly. "I think it's harder to make a friend, a real good one. You can always pick another guy"

The bell rang at that moment, and we grabbed our books and got up. "What do you have next?" Elena asked as she bent down to pick up a notebook that slipped out from her binder, and then muttered, "I'm sure that I'm the clumsiest person with the worst memory in the family just take a look at Elaine"

"English," I replied to the question that was directed at me, and made a face. "Anna hasn't been sitting anywhere near me, so I had to find another study partner. What do you have?"

"I also have English," she said as we paced up the stairs. "The classroom next to yours. I just realized that last week; it's weird. Anyway, it's not like Anna's been too keen on studying. Bet she let you do all the answering. Who's your new study partner?"

"Estelle Rosenberg. You know her, the blonde girl in our eighth grade science class. And now I know her sister--she told me to take good care of Estelle since we're going to be stuck together as study partners for rest of the year."

"I heard that she's not very good with anything other than math and science."

I shrugged as I spotted Estelle shoving through the crowd. "Well, as least she tries."

Estelle fought her way through the hallway flooded with people in red cloth, and we entered the classroom. She was wearing a blue blouse and black pants, and I made a mental note to myself. _Six people I knew were NOT wearing red on Valentine's Day._

"So far, so good." I said loudly. People who were already in the classroom turned to stare at me, and then returned to their conversation. Estelle giggled as we picked two seats close to the door.

"What was that about?" she asked, and I shrugged.

"I'm counting people that are not wearing red today. I've counted six so far."

"Well, that's not bad for a start. Plus, you still have four more periods to count."

Mr. Cooney was tapping his desk gently in front of the room, which signaled the beginning of his lesson, so we stopped talking and took out our copy of _The Merchant of Venice_. I could tell that no one was interested in Shakespeare today; a few people were groaning and complaining quietly. Someone even said loudly, "Why can't we have it easy on a special day like this?"

Old Cooney clearly ignored this. He was starting to read the description of Act I, scene ii. Clearly, Valentine's Day did not matter to most of the faculty either.

***

The bell rang fifty minutes later, and I gathered up my notes and the packet Cooney called "the journal of famous quote," which he handed out just before class ended. I stuffed them into my binder, and then followed Estelle out of the classroom. She looked at me like I was losing my mind. "Don't you have lunch now? And the cafeteria entrance is located in the opposite direction, you know."

"I forgot to bring my lunch today," I explained. "So I figured that I'd just sit in the library and look over today's notes from English."

"Well in that case," she said, opening her bag and took out a brown paper bag. "I guess you can have mine. I'm on a diet."

I stared at her; she was thin as a stick. Not that she looked unhealthy that way, but taking the lunch of someone that skinny made me feel guilty.

"What?" she exclaimed. "Off to the cafeteria already! Mulder's waiting down there!"

"What?" I asked. A boy bumped into me, muttered "sorry" and moved on. The crowd was beginning to thin out.

Estelle blushed. "Oops not supposed to say that."

"What exactly are you talking about?" I took a step toward her.

"Fine! Alright already! He's got something for you and he's waiting in the cafeteria!" she said, her face flaming. "Just don't let Ellie know that I told you!" and then she ran down the hallway to her physics classroom before I could ask more questions.

"What the hell is going on?" I said to a hallway that was now empty.

My lunch certainly wasn't the only thing I had forgotten today; I seemed to have forgotten my mind too.

***

"What does Estelle eat that make her so skinny?" I asked Mulder as I sat down on the opposite side of the table.

He shrugged. "I don't know; I think it runs in the family."

"Ellie is not _that _skinny," I said, opening the lunch that originally belonged to Estelle; it contained a sandwich, a small bottle of something that looked like tea, and an apple. "Looks pretty normal to me."

"Estelle gave you her lunch? She must really be on a diet now."

"She gave it to me because I forgot mine," I explained as I took out the sandwich. "And it's not the only thing I forgot today."

"Let me guess: homework?"

"And my mind." I nodded, and took another bite of the sandwich. "And a box of chocolate."

"So you've found someone good enough for you, and you still couldn't find your own lunch table?" he joked, although there was something different about his voice.

I blushed, remembering the conversation Ellie and I had on Christmas Day; it was nearly two months ago. And I had always wondered if she was right then, and if she was still right, as of now. "Yeah. Well, I just hope that he doesn't have many admirers. Competition is a bad thing in that case."

He was silent as he finished the rest of his lunch. And then something landed in front of me. I raised my head and saw a wrapped box placed next to my--well, Estelle's--lunch bag.

"What's inside?" I asked curiously.

Mulder did not answer my question. Instead, he got to his feet and swung his bag over his shoulder, his face a deep shade of puce. "I'd better go," he said, and then added, "Psychology quiz next period."

And before I could say anything, he stormed out the cafeteria, leaving me staring at his retreating back, stunned.

"What the heck was that about?"

I picked up the package, took a long glance at it, and then proceeded to open it. And then I stopped.

I had received a box of chocolate for Valentine's Day when I was in sixth grade, but this one was nothing like the previous one. It wasn't like the plain squares of milk chocolate that you'd just pop into your mouth any day; delicate icings decorated the chocolates inside the paper box, and although chocolate was definitely on top of my list of favorite foods, I had no urge of opening this box. It was too lovely and well, perfect.

Someone sat down next to me; I turned my head and saw it was Ellie. "What's up?"

"Teacher got nice--let us out early as soon as lab is done," she replied, eyeing the package. "Who gave you that?"

"Mulder," I said, holding it up for her to inspect.

Ellie grinned. "Told you! Told you that he likes you!"

"Okay, okay," I said, holding out my hands as if they would be able to calm her down. "Now what?"

She stared at me in disbelief. "Now what?! Now it's time for you to make your move! Well," she added hastily, "It's not like I'm in any place to tell you what to do with boys. Guess you'll be on your own this time."

"I do have something for him," I said as my cheeks started to get warm, "But I left it at home along with my lunch and my mind."

She tapped the table with an index finger as she stared at the ceiling thoughtfully. "Hmm yeah, you sure forgot your mind well"

"Well?" I inquired. She looked at me like I really lost my mind.

"Bring it to him after school, of course."

"What?!" I nearly jumped out of my seat. "His parents might be home!"

"Well, it's better than the marching army of happy couples wearing red, is it not?"

***

Once again, I found myself at the front steps of the Mulder residence, while swearing quietly at myself for being so forgetful.

I knocked on the door, and shivered. Turning my head to the left, I saw Estelle peering out from the window of her house. I made a shoving gesture at her, but she took it as a wave and waved at me, and then gave me a thumb-up. I could also see Ellie joining her sister as they both stared at the door, waiting for it to open.

I sighed, and my breath turned into small clouds of vapor. I waited for the door to open.

At last it opened, and I held my breath, hoping that it wasn't either one of Mulder's parents that was standing behind the door.

But it was Mulder himself. He smiled at me shyly, and then stepped outside and glanced at the house next door. Estelle and Ellie ducked out of sight, but not fast enough. Mulder sighed. "Those two come on in. My parents are out for a romantic dinner, although I don't think there's anything romantic between them anymore"

I stepped in, and he shut the door, blocking the cold winter air out.

"Thanks for the chocolate," I said, trying to maintain my casual tone. He blushed, but not in a deep shade.

"It's nothing," he said, glancing at me for a moment and then looked away. "Really."

"Well, I've got something for you too," I said, and held up the package. "I told you I left it at home, and so here I am and here you go."

He took the box, although there was something in the air that I did not understand; it had become very hard for me to understand Mulder these days, it seemed. "I thought it's for someone you like."

"Ah uh, well" I cleared my throat loudly. Suddenly I wished that someone, even one of his parents, was here. I was never in this kind of situation before, and naturally I didn't know how to get out of it.

Mulder's gaze shifted from my face to somewhere else. I looked up and saw him stare at the doorframe, where the mistletoe had hung nearly two months ago.

'I threw it out because they didn't seem to remember about it," he said softly, "but now I wish I didn't do that." 

Silence followed, but the awkwardness was gone; I knew what he was thinking and he knew what was inside my mind.

And then we did the only thing that made sense, in this new situation.

The distance between us dwindled, as he leaned down, to touch my lips with his.

***

__

There. My proud army of fluffiness had come marching into my brain and the protein samples had to spend thirty minutes in the incubator and here's the result: the revised version of the February chapter, a very happy, sappy Valentine's Day!

To Ellie: you're right, it's easier to write things that I DO know. Thanks for the help just stop mentioning how wonderful London is! ;)


	9. March

Beyond Yesterday

"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times."

One thing I never liked about March was the false warmth of its sunshine. Just when you get your hopes high, the temperature started to drop, followed by a week of rain and sometimes, snow.

Today was just one of those days with the false sunshine. We were finally done with Shakespeare, and now we were moving on to Charles Dickens' _A Tale of Two Cities. _To some people Charles Dickens was just another torture, but to me, at least we didn't have to talk in iambic pentameter anymore.

Halfway through English class it started to rain. I looked at the window and watched the rain splattering on the glass. Someone in the room sighed and Mr. Cooney stopped reading.

"Class," he said, his high-pitched voice echoed in the small, closed classroom. "I would like to remind you, that as I had said previously, your final exam will consist of a large portion of questions based on works of Dickens, and I had expected you to behave better than letting the changing of weather distract you!"

As if replying to his angry rant, thunder and lighting clashed loudly, and for a moment the lights flickered. A few girls screamed.

Mr. Cooney looked irritated. "If I catch anyone not paying attention, that person would get double homework!" 

Silence returned to the classroom and Mr. Cooney picked up his book and started reading again. Estelle muffled a yawn as she followed the conversation Mr. Lorry and Jerry the messenger. Once she looked at me and we exchanged a look and a nod.

__

We had jumped out of sunny Venice, and into rainy London.

***

It was still raining when school hours ended. I walked to the main entrance, having a hard time because most people didn't have their umbrellas or raincoats and so they stayed inside the building. I looked around for Melissa; maybe she remembered her umbrella this morning. But she was nowhere in sight.

I sighed and opened the door, ready to get soaked. But before I could step out, I heard someone calling my name behind me. Mulder hurried to my side, clutching an umbrella. "Here you go. You don't got one do you?"

"No, but I'm going--"

"See you tomorrow, then." He pulled the hood of his thin jacket over his head, and dashed into the rain. I stared at his retreating back, wanting to call him back, but also afraid that he'd look and sound like an idiot to other people.

Estelle showed up next to me with an umbrella in her hand. "Did you tell him that you're coming over to my house to finish the English project?"

"I tried!" I protested, looking down on the umbrella. "But he didn't even bother to listen."

"Yep. You won't believe how stupid he is sometimes," Estelle said, looking up at the sky. "He'd be soaked when he gets home. Stupid."

"He's not stupid," Ellie said from behind us, and we nearly jumped. "He's just shy."

"Whatever," Estelle rolled her eyes at her sister. "Can we get going now?"

***

"So how come you didn't get soaked?" Melissa asked that night when we were doing the dishes after dinner. "When I got home, I swear that even if I stand in the shower for an hour I couldn't get that wet!"

"Someone lend me an umbrella," I said carefully, drying a plate. I didn't tell Melissa about Mulder; somehow the information would leak out, and if Bill found out 

"Wow, must be a nice person," she said, handing me another plate. "Wait, a guy or a girl?"

"A guy," I answered blankly as I dried the plate.

"Ooooh, am I sensing--"

"You're sensing that it's going to rain all night," I said before she could finish. "And now your priority is the cleanness of the dishes."

"Okay, the dishes." Melissa laughed, and didn't say another word.

Unfortunately, we shared the same bedroom.

"So who was it?" she asked when I came in, drying my hair with my towel. I almost dropped the towel, and she laughed at my dazed expression.

"Cut it out Melissa," I snapped, picking up the towel. "It's way too personal."

But instead of shutting up, she screamed at the top of her lungs, "Mom, MOM! Dana's got a boyfriend!"

I heard footsteps running in the direction of my room, and I cursed silently for Melissa's big mouth.

"Who's got a boyfriend?" Bill stuck his head in the doorway. "I didn't hear it clear."

"Her," Melissa said, laughing and pointing at me. Bill grimaced.

"It better not be that Mulder guy or I'll--"

"Come on," Charlie said, pulling Bill's shoulder. "Leave the girl business to girls."

"Dana, who's it? Is it the mysterious but charming Mulder?" Melissa chirped; she sounded awfully like Anna, but before I could retort back, Mom appeared in the doorway, looking agitated. Charlie let go of Bill's shoulder and backed a step or two, but he stayed in the doorway.

"What's this all about?" Mom demanded. No one said a thing. "Missy, was it you who were yelling?"

"Yeah, well" she looked at Mom sheepishly. Bill tried to retreat out of the scene, but Mom was holding onto his shoulder firmly this time.

"So would somebody like to explain this to me?" Mom asked as her gaze shifted between the four of us.

Charlie cleared his throat. "We heard Melissa yelling about Dana having--" he stole a glance at me before continuing. "--A boyfriend. And Bill wanted to know who it is."

Mom stared at Bill and Melissa, and both of them looked away. Then she said, "Both of you, let your sister keep her privacy. And she can decide for herself who suits her better. You're both grounded for a week."

Both of them groaned, but didn't complain. Bill shot me a nasty look before Charlie pulled him back to their room. Melissa slipped under her blanket without saying goodnight.

I turned off my bedside lamp without saying a word.

Just as I thought things were getting better, they took a worse turn.

***

When I saw Mulder the next morning, he was sneezing loudly. Ellie stood next to him, looking offended.

"You know, there's a limit for everything."

He nodded, and was going to say something, when he sneezed again. Some people turned to look at him, and then continued on their own business.

Ellie waited until he stopped, and then continued. "First of all, you won't be able to go anywhere with a flu. It is contagious."

"Then why the heck are you standing next to me?"

"Because I have good immune system. But we don't know about Dana."

"Yeah, yeah. Whatever." He grumbled, and tossed the tissue into a trash bin close by. Ellie rolled her eyes and walked away.

I approached Mulder, feeling guilty now. "Hey," I said, trying to sound cheerful.

"Hey," he smiled, but then hid his face in another tissue as a loud sneeze broke out. 

"Sorry, it's all my fault," I started to apologize. "I should've said that I was going over to Estelle's house--"

He held a hand up and threw the tissue away. "Nah don't say that. I think you tried to say that yesterday but I was, well" he looked away, blushing. "I don't really know how to act around girls the spying sisters next door is a difference case."

I laughed nervously, and handed his umbrella. "Here. I brought mine along this time."

"Well prepared," he said, taking his umbrella.

Outside, a lightning flashed and a few moments later a rolling thunder followed. The lights in the hallway flickered, and then gone completely out.

"I guess we won't have class today," Mulder said dully. I laughed as some other students down the hallway cheered.

March. You never know what to expect of it

***

__

Somebody tell me what to do with April 'cause the only important day I know is well, my own birthday

Review this chapter and you shall have a very happy August! Well, I can't be really sure about that, but if you're reading somebody else's "creation" you should be in a good mood


	10. April

__

If your boyfriend remembers half of his answers on the 10th grade English final but nothing about the last dance you two went to, here's what you could consider:

Dump him. Or maybe not because you also remember half of your answers on a final, except it was Regents Global Studies. Ask someone who might remember what happened at a dance and use his/her experience because you need the details for your story (in my case it's quite pathetic) 

So dearest Lily, thanks for helping me out. And I'm really sorry that I'm writing a MSR, which you don't always support well, just a bit. Not too much. I know that disappoints people but whatever they can't hurt me but you can.

Beyond Yesterday

"And then your brother's girlfriend screamed, and leaned so far back that she dragged your brother onto the floor!"

I stared at Estelle as she took a deep breath. She had been laughing so hard that there were tears in her eyes.

Today was the first day of April, also known as April Fool's Day. And it seemed like some underclassmen had dared to pull a prank on the seniors; a bench in the senior section of the cafeteria had collapsed and Bill was sitting on it, according to Estelle, who witnessed the event.

"Shut up," I hissed, shooting glares at people who turned to stare at us. "You're lucky that Mr. Cooney has realized that he is way too unpopular to handle today. And next time we might not have a substitute this good."

"Yeah, she's almost deaf," Estelle said, finally gained control over herself. "And she's not making us watching any dumb movie made for classroom use."

I nodded, flipping through my copy of _A Tale of Two Cities_. Charlie had told me that in Dickens' time, writers were paid according to the number of words their works contained, and now I was starting to believe it; why else would anyone torture himself and the future generations like this? 

Estelle leaned back in her chair, stretching her long arms. "Spring dance next week," she said.

"I know; it's like the only thing other girls talk about these days. Are you going?"

She made a face, slamming her book shut. "Yeah, like anyone would ask me out. Nope, I'm not going. I'm just going to stay home and hang with my sister she's not going either. Did anyone ask you to go?"

"No. I suppose we're in the same boat."

"What about Mulder?"

Oh, that.

Sometimes I saw him leaning against wall, talking to some boys I assumed were his friends. He always noticed me, and would excuse himself from his friends and walk over to meet me, smiling shyly. Then he'd walk me to my locker and he would wait as I took off my jacket and sort out what I wanted to carry. Then he'd walk me to my homeroom.

But that was it.

"I don't think he wants to go to the dance," I said slowly. "I don't think he's that type of guy."

The bell rang and we got up, heading into the crowded hallway. I stopped by my locker and pulled out my lunch and dumped all my materials from my morning classes except my Biology and Geometry homework into my locker. Then I headed for the cafeteria, hoping to find Mulder there. 

There he was, sitting at our table and watching people around him shouting and yelling at each other. I sat down opposite to him as usual, and he turned his attention from a group of girls to me.

"Spring dance next week," he said.

"I know," I replied. "It's about the only thing that every girl I know talk about this week. I guess it must be a pretty big deal."

"It is. Would you like to go with me?"

"What?" I asked, dumbfound. I must had mistaken something; he couldn't have just asked me to go to the spring dance with him.

"I asked if you'd like to go to the dance with me," he repeated, blushing slightly.

"This is not an April Fool's Day trick, is it?" I asked, wondering if this was just some kind of trick.

"No, but I guess I picked the wrong day to ask." He sighed. "Would you like to go with me, really? And I swear it's not a trick."

"Yes, I'd love to go," I replied and he grinned.

"Good." He said, getting to his feet and left, his face in a deep shade of crimson.

Good? That's all he's going to say? I shook my head, pulled out my sandwich and took a bite; it was tasteless and when I chewed, I felt like eating paper. I stuffed it back into the bag and threw it away.

It was really hard to determine if it was just a prank or if he was sincere, on this day when any promise could turn into some kind of joke.

***

That Saturday Mom took Melissa and I to shop for dresses for the dance. They seemed more enthusiastic about my date than I was. Melissa had been trying to find out, but I kept my mouth shut like a clam.

"Come on, it's not such a big deal!" She yelled as she tried on a dress. I wasn't exactly interested in what dress I'd be wearing, so I let Mom pick for me. She had chosen a thin pink dress that reached just an inch below my knees, which was just the right length for me. Melissa wanted to try something new and different--something above her knees, but I doubt if Mom would approve that in the end.

"It's not like you'd ever want to date this guy!" I yelled back. A few other customers in the store stared at me, and I shot glares at them; I was pretty good at this now, ever since I discovered that glares can literally kill. Charlie had joked that he had died at least a hundred times and always came back to get tortured again.

"So it's another freshman?" she said, stepping out of the changing room and admired herself in the mirror. "I thought you'd be dating that Mul--"

"Missy, this one is too short in my opinion," Mom walked over and stared at Melissa. "Honey, really. It's at least two inches above your knees, and it is inappropriate for girls your age."

"Mom!" Melissa groaned. "When I'm an old maid, it would look even more inappropriate on me."

"Missy, here's one of the same style but the length is just right," Mom said, handing Melissa a dress that she had been looking at with finality in her voice. "Why don't you try this one on? I'm sure it will look better."

Melissa grumbled a final protest and took the dress from Mom. Before stepping into the changing room, she turned and looked at me and muttered, "Mothers."

I burst out laughing and this time no one bothered to stare at me.

***

The dance was in the gym and it was crowded. Most of it was fast songs, and Mulder explained that to him "jumping around made more sense," so we found an empty table in the back after danced to few slow songs. During our time on the dance floor I had to admit that it was so much fun. I had leaned against him and rested my head on his shoulder, something I had never done before. Elena, who came with her boyfriend ever since seventh grade, Mark, had a surprised look on her face when she saw us. But she smiled happily before swaying away in another direction.

A few of Mulder's friends stopped by, but none of them decided to sat down with us, and I was actually glad of that. They just stopped by, some with dates but most of them were alone, and chatted for a minute or so.

"I see you have a good taste for ladies," a boy called Andrew half-joked. "When we heard that you're coming to the dance _with _a date, we thought that you had finally lost it and asked a cheerleader--hey don't look at me like that," he said, regarding to Mulder's nasty look, "Some of them only cared about a guy's face, not what people think of them or their personality at all. Anyway, I see that we're wrong and that's good."

With that, he hopped off toward the entrance.

I turned to face Mulder. "Nice friends you have," I commented.

"Yeah well. We're the outcast of society, so we stick together pretty tight."

"Hmm. Guess there is something good in every perspective of life."

He smiled, and reached a hand out to squeeze mine gently. "I really like you," he said, his eyes locking onto mine. I felt a shiver traveling up my arm, like that night when I first saw him in the crowd.

__

And I really like you too, I said silently. Somehow it never made it out of the back of my throat. It never escaped my lips.

He continued, his gaze now drifting off. "But I don't know about this"

And then I panicked. _Oh God, _I thought, _he's going to say that he's a senior and I'm a freshman and maybe we're never meant to be. Maybe_

"I mean, I'm a senior and it's only two more months until graduation." He said, his voice unsteady, which wasn't like him at all. "And I don't know if I'll stay around here."

"Oh I'm sure you can get into the State University with no problem," I said as assuring as I could be, "Bill is pretty confident that he can get in and your grades are so much better than his--so no worries!"

He smiled and squeezed my hand again. "You're right. Anyway, we still have two months."

"That's right," I said, returning his smile.

He looked up at the clock, and then said, "Let's go. I want to walk you home, but I don't want to get caught and beat up by your brother."

We stood up and pushed our way to the exit. Once outside, I breathed in the sweet spring night air, which was refreshing after being in the crowded gym. We walked in silence, holding our hands. Once we looked up at the night sky and saw the glimpse of a shooting star. Mulder smiled.

"I saw one on the night of Christmas Day," he said, slowing down a bit. "I haven't seen them for a while."

"I saw one that night too," I said. "Do you think they could possibly be the same one?"

"I stared at the night sky pretty long that night and it was the only one I saw, so it's possibly the same one," he chuckled, and asked me, "What wish did you make on that star?"

"Hey if I tell you, it wouldn't come true, right?"

We've reached my house, and he walked me to the porch. "I think my wish that night had already come true," he said softly, and leaned down for a light kiss.

I blushed; I could tell that he was blushing too, under the dim porch light. "Thanks for taking me to the dance," I managed to say.

He grinned. "I didn't take you to the dance; you walked to the school by yourself. But you were my date, so thanks for the dance."

"And thanks for walking me home."

He nodded and planted a kiss on my forehead. "Sweet dreams," he said, and then turned and walked out of our front yard.

I watched his back until he turned the corner and I could no longer see him. Once he turned his head, saw me watching, and waved. I waved back, smiling.

I went inside the house; I could hear the television crackling in the living room, and Mom and Dad's muffled conversation. I didn't want to tell anyone about my first date, so I headed straight to my room, changed into my nightgown and went to bed.

Half an hour later, when Melissa turned the doorknob, I caught myself smiling. I quickly turned to my side so that Melissa couldn't see my face, as I was not able to force the grin to go away.

This was a night that I surely would remember for a long time.


	11. May

__

Yeah, yeah I know not enough MSR. Well, that's how I planned this story in the first place. Keywords: high school life, first crush, puppy love, and the likes of them.

Okies okies the real reason is that well, someone who loves MSR but doesn't know where you live is basically, harmless. But someone who loathes MSR and lives on your street is, basically, harmful. In a physical way.

And guess what? There really is such a person living on my street and she happens to be one of my best friends.

So sorry folks, if there's not enough MSR in your opinion. I promise I'll make it up to you one of these days

Beyond Yesterday

One day during P. E. Elena sprang her ankle and was well, "immune" from participating in any activities during class. One day after a rather humiliating game of field hockey I went over to her and said, "You have no idea how lucky you are. You don't have to be out there and humiliating yourself."

"Hey," she protested, "You have no idea how much this hurt. And I bump into people in the hallways more often than ever; you know how clumsy I am and this is just a burden."

"You're still not our there," I said as Mrs. French, our teacher, blew the whistle. I grabbed my hockey stick and returned to my position. We're never good anyway; Mrs. French had divided us into two groups, freshmen and sophomore, and the sophomores well, they looked big and scary to me.

I looked in the direction of Elena for one more time; although she was sitting at the bench, I could tell that she was smiling encouragingly at me. I sighed and looked down at the grass. This period was way too long for me to handle.

Near the end of the period I was positive that no one on our side had made any effort to score a goal; I wasn't exactly frustrated, as I knew that it was never fair from the start. I had lost the sight of the ball and I was playing defense, so I moved toward our goal as the opposite team charged in our direction. Suddenly someone yelled, "Dana, watch out!" and before I could react, the hockey ball hit me hard right above my right ankle. And a second later, something even harder--I thought it was a hockey stick--hit on the same spot. I fell backwards onto the grass, and although I was certain that I would lose my conciousness any second now, I heard Mrs. French blowing her whistle, and she was also yelling indignantly.

"Who did this?" she yelled, and I forced my eyes open. She was glaring at every girl; some sophomores whispered and snickered. One of them--a tall girl with tanned skin stepped out from her group of friends, glanced at me.

"It's me," she said, and she was also grinning. If my leg didn't hurt so much, I probably would have jumped and strangled her with my own hands. "She was in the way," the girl continued, shrugging and still grinning. "She was between me and the goal and that seemed to be the only sensible thing to do." I heard a few girls I knew gasping, and Mrs. French's face had turned white as a slab of marble.

"Well Miss Johnson," Mrs. French said, her voice a pitch higher than usual. "Since you used your sense so--so wisely, you will receive after school detention for the whole week--no, for next week, since today is Wednesday."

Miss Johnson--I never knew her first name--looked stunned; she opened her mouth as if she was going to protest, but Mrs. French silenced her with a look. She came over to me, knelt down, and said, "Someone get over here and help me carry her to the nurse's office."

A freshman, Terra Spinner, came over and Mrs. French gave her instructions to help her lifting me off the ground. We barely knew each other, but I smiled at her as best as I could. "How does it feel?" she asked, looking up to watch where she was heading.

"I'd rather drop dead right here," I said.

"It could be worse," she looked down at her chest. "Last month during a game the ball flew right at my chest and nearly knocked me out; I got a broken rib for that."

I remembered that she was on the JV field hockey team. "In that case I'm glad it hit my ankle instead."

She was smiling, but there was a serious look in her eyes. "You really should tell your counselor about this, you know." She lowered her voice, as if not wanting anyone else to hear what she was talking about, and whispered, "If your counselor is nice enough, he or she could get as far as forbid her to play next season. Johnson did the same thing at a home game last month, but all the punishment she got was suspension for one game."

I looked up at her, surprised. "But that's not fair!"

She shrugged, and stopped as Mrs. French asked another student to open the door of the nurse's office. "I know, but she's a sophomore and she's in Varsity--she's got to be good, and the coach--well, she definitely doesn't want to lose such a jewel."

They placed me down on a bed. Mrs. French looked at the clocked, frowned, grabbed a blank hall pass and wrote something on it. She handed it to Terra and told her to get changed and go to her class. Terra smiled at me just before she disappeared out of the door.

Ms. Kelley, the school nurse, hurried over and knelt down to take a better look at my injured ankle. "Oh my goodness," she said, looking up at Mrs. French. "a student did this to her fellow classmate?"

"A sophomore Varsity player, to be exact." Both of them sighed.

"This is worse than I could handle here," Ms. Kelley was saying as she reached for the phone. "I'll have to call your parents, dear. They have to take you to the emergency room, and I'd suggest you stay home for rest of the week."

"Good idea," I muttered, looking down at my ankle. It was red and swollen that I could hardly believe that it was part of my leg.

Mrs. French sighed and patted my shoulder sympathetically. "I have to get back to the fourth period class," she said, "You get some rest. Ms. Kelley will get you some ice--that'll help."

"Thanks," I said, closing my eyes and listened as the door opened and shut.

About fifteen minutes later, the door opened again. I opened my eyes and expected to see Mom, but it was Estelle. She was handing Ms. Kelley something that looked like a hall pass. Ms. Kelley reached a hand out and place it on her forehead, frowned, and muttered something to her. Estelle nodded and walked slowly to my side of the room and lay down on the bed next to mine.

"Hey," she mouthed as Ms. Kelley carried a wet towel over and placed it on her forehead, and then pulled the long green curtain close, separating us from rest of the room. "How's your ankle?"

"What are you doing here?" I whispered.

"I've got a fever must've caught the cold yesterday when I didn't blow my hair dry. How's your ankle?" she repeated, as her fever wasn't important.

"Field hockey," I said. "A sophomore smashed my ankle right after the ball hit the same spot. It hurts like hell."

She turned to her side, holding the towel to her forehead with a hand. She looked up at me a moment later, horrified.

"Where on earth and heaven is your mother?!" She hissed. "She should be taking you to the emergency room right this second!"

And as if on cue, the door opened again. Two people whispered, and a second later Mom pulled the curtain open, looking worried. "Are you alright, sweetie?"

"Not too good," I said blankly, looking up at her.

Bill , Charlie and Melissa appeared from behind Mom, all of them looked concerned and worried; Melissa was close to tears, I could tell.

Mom turned to them and said, "Bill and Charlie, you two help Dana to get in the car. Missy, you hold the door open for them. I'll be with you in a second.

The three of them nodded, and Mom turned to talk to Ms. Kelley. Bill lifted me off the bed and Estelle whispered, "Later." I smiled faintly at her and she turned to another side, staring out the window.

I sighed. My siblings had warned me against senior pranks and yet I received none of that. All I had experienced so far was sophomore pranks.

***

That Friday Bill went to his friend's house to play basketball, and Charlie had band practice. After much discussion with her friend on the phone, Melissa decided to go to her friend's house and finish a book report together. Mom and I were the only people in the house.

I was lying in my bed, staring blankly out of the window when someone knocked on my door, and Mom's voice followed. "Dana, your friend Fox is here to see you."

I sat up, and then lay down again. I still didn't want to move my leg. "Okay, let him in."

The door opened and Mulder stepped in. Mom smiled and closed the door. Mulder pulled out a chair and handed me a paper bag. "My mom made cookies and I thought you might want to try some; they're really good."

"Thanks," I said, taking the bag and pulled out a cookie, popping it into my mouth. "It is really good."

He smiled, squeezing my free hand. "Told you. Hoe do you feel?"

"Lousy." Lousy was not my favorite word to use, but at the moment that was really how I felt. Just lousy. "I still can't move my right feet; it hurts too much. And I'm having a hard time when it comes to shower." I shook my hand, placing the bag on my bedside table. "I think I'll give up the idea of trying out for tennis next year."

"Tennis usually don't hit your ankle, unless you play really, well, lousy."

"Yes but it can hit your head if your opponent hit it really hard and it bounces too high," I said, laughing for the first time since my ankle was hurt.

"Well that kind of ball usually will be out of boundary and that won't count," he argued back. "What about table tennis?"

"We don't have a table tennis team, Mulder. Besides, a good table tennis player can really hurt you--the ball bounces back and forth so fast sometimes I can't even see it."

"Oh right." He grabbed the bag and helped himself to a cookie, grinning. "What about basketball? You'll always have enough time torun for your life."

"I'm way too short for that."

"What about"

And the whole argument went on until it was time for him to go home for dinner.

***

The next week I went back to school; everything was the same except that I had a few assignments that needed to be made up. But my teachers all told me that if I hand them in before end of the term they'd still count.

"Thanks," I told each and every one of them, and I was truly grateful that I had work to keep my mind off my ankle.

One afternoon Melissa joked that I was becoming a workaholic as she sat and watched me working on my French homework.

The next day I told Mulder that Melissa is calling me a workaholic. He laughed and said, "Welcome to the club."

"There's a club?"

"It's an expression. But well, I guess we could have one. Right now the only members are Ellie, Estelle and I. I'm the president since I'm the biggest workaholic."

Ellie hopped over and sat down. "Thank God, it is my science drop day." She shook her head and smiled at me. "Is your ankle better?"

"It's not swollen anymore," I replied.

"That's a start for recovery," she nodded, and said to Mulder, "There's still one can of spray paint left and I took it home 'cause nobody else wanted it. But if you want it" she shrugged, as if that was the best ending of the sentence.

"Spray paint?" I asked curiously.

"Yeah," Ellie said. "Spray paint. The Helping Hand Club--the Volunteering Club for some--was doing a mural for a kitchen soup last week. We finished it on Sunday."

"Hey, I know," Mulder whispered and we had to lean toward him to hear what he was saying. "Let's go spray that Johnson girl's locker sometimes after school."

I stared at him. "How did you know who hit me?"

Ellie raised a hand. "I told him."

"And how did you found out?"

She shrugged, grinning. "Estelle told me and she heard from your friend Elena and Elena heard it from a freshman called Terra Spinner."

"Oh," was all I could think of. I sat up straight and studied their faces.

"So do you want to do it?" Mulder was asking Ellie.

"Count me out on this one," she said, hurling her empty juice carton at a trash bin. "But you still can have the spray paint. Just don't drag the club in."

"I won't," Mulder sighed. "But why do you care? We'll be out of here in no time and seniors don't have to take finals." 

"Yes, but it won't be pretty if you get caught," I cut in before Ellie could said anything, and she nodded in agreement.

Mulder shrugged. "I'll say it's all my idea if unfortunately I get caught you got that paint in your locker?" he asked, and Ellie nodded.

"Yep."

"Good," he got to his feet and swung his bag over his shoulder. "See you guys around later."

We watched him walked out of the cafeteria, and I asked, "Do you think he's really going to do it?"

"I don't know," she said, still staring at the cafeteria exit. "I hope we don't have to find out." She folded her brown paper bag into a square neatly, and then stared at me. "He really cares about you," she said, and then added, "A lot."

I could feel my face getting warmer as I forced out an answer. "I know. I really care about him too. I mean, I really, really like him."

She was shaking her head. "I know; it's pretty much evident. But with just a month and half left" she looked at the opposite side of the cafeteria; some senior had already hung handmade posters that announced the colleges they would be going to in the fall. "maybe you guys just met at the wrong time. Not that there's anything wrong about you two being together. It's just" she let the sentence trail off, and I didn't need to hear the rest of it to know what she meant.

"You think he's not accepted by the State University?" I asked.

She laughed dryly, her eyes still wandering among the posters. "I don't think the State University is where his heart lies, although I'm sure that he was accepted he mentioned a few times that he wants to get away from here. Get away from his parents, more likely."

"But why?"

Ellie frowned as her gaze shift to me. "He thinks that his parents are hiding something from him something regarding to his sister's disappearance. It doesn't make much sense to me, but God only knows what exactly goes on in his family. They're quite the mystery on the block."

The bell rang, and we stood up and headed for the exit. "Later," Ellie said mildly, and disappeared into the crowd.

I stood on the spot, glad that she couldn't hear my stomach churning.

So Mulder was not going to stay around here? So I wouldn't see him again after this June?

I had read some of Melissa's romance novel, and many of them were about high school girls and their first crush; the stories usually ended up the sad way; either their boyfriends dumped them or graduated and left without saying goodbye.

So was this the way that my first crush will end?

***

__

See where this is going? Good. But somehow I'll fix it up

But, if you're really upset about not having enough MSR, flame away. I'm ready.


	12. June

YES! It's lunch break time to finish this ordeal; my friends are killing me here!

Beyond Yesterday

May was gone before I realized it. The next thing I knew, we're reviewing for our exams. Every teacher was busy cramming more information into the students' brains so that his or she wouldn't have the chance of seeing a student again next year.

The walls of the senior area of the cafeteria were covered with handmade posters these days; some of them were just a plain piece of paper with the name of its creator and the name of the college he or she was going to attend in the fall. Each day the number of posters increased, and by the end of first week in June, there were only few spots left on the wall.

And Mulder's poster was nowhere in sight, if he did have one.

On the first Friday of June I helped Ellie putting up her poster. She had spent quite a bit of time on it, and she was very proud of both her poster and herself.

"Ellie Rosenberg, Northwestern University," I read out aloud, looking at Ellie. "So you really are going away?"

"No worries," she said, placing one hand on her hip. "I'll be back every Christmas and summer, so I'll still see you guys. Well, not that often, but hey it's better than nothing."

"She's abandoning us," Estelle said gloomily, staring up at the poster we just managed to tape on the wall. "She _is _abandoning us."

Ellie slapped her sister gently on the head. "Hey quit it! You've been saying that for days even when you know that's not true."

"It is true," Estelle mumbled, turned on her heels and left us standing there, not knowing if we should call her back.

Ellie turned to me and said, "She's not taking this too well. Mom's even worse. Last night she burst into tears while passing me the potato salad. I wonder what will she do when it comes the time when I really have to leave."

I smiled faintly. "You deserved it; you've put good hours into study and volunteering and school activities, and plus you're smart. You deserve to be in a famous college, even if it's a long way from home."

"Hey you're smart too," she argued, her eyes trailed at other posters. "And look here Greg Wilson, Princeton he's the head of Math Team and he deserves to be there he's the only son in his family and yesterday he told me that his mother cried when she heard he's going up to New Jersey" she shook her head, frowning. "Parents they are always telling us to grow up but when the time come they won't let us"

"Does Mulder have a poster?" I asked. She looked away from the poster at once.

"He's going to work on it this weekend, he said." She shrugged. "Really, I don't know where exactly does he want to go. I wouldn't be surprised if he goes all the way to West Coast, though. He wants to get away from his parents so badly."

I nodded. I was warned, of course. But I still didn't want to think that I was never going to see Mulder again after this month ended. It was way too sad for me to bear.

Ellie patted on my shoulder and I looked up at her. "Hey, time to get to homeroom," she said softly, the way a mother would talk to her daughter. "You don't want to be late for the morning announcements these days."

***

On Monday morning I walked into cafeteria, half-expecting to find Mulder there. And he was there, with a roll of tape in one hand and scissors in another. Ellie was holding the poster on one of the few spots left on the wall.

"How's this?" she asked, almost yelling. "MY arms are getting tired!"

"It's good!" he said, putting tape over the top side of the poster and Ellie stepped down from the chair she had been standing on, and looked at it suspiciously.

"I'm surprised that it hasn't collapsed yet."

"It's because you're so goddam thin that the chair doesn't even know you're on top of it," Mulder said, giving the poster a good slap. "There. It should stay on for at least two weeks. Then we have to take it off."

"What's up?" I said, walking over to them. Mulder blushed, and tried to block the name of the college on his poster. Ellie stared at him like if he was mad.

"Mulder, let her see it. It's not like you're going to a community college or something like that; you should be proud of yourself!"

Mulder sighed resignedly and stepped away from the wall. I stepped closer to read the poster. "Fox W. Mulder, Oxford University." I turned to look at him, amazed. "You're going to England?"

He nodded, shifting his weight from one foot to another. "I've always wanted to go there, and here comes my chance with full scholarship, by the way." He looked at me as if he was feeling guilty. "This chance is too good to, well, let go."

Ellie cleared her throat and said, " I'll have to go and well, Estelle forgot her lunch this morning and I have to give it to her. So if you'll excuse me"

She slipped out of the cafeteria, leaving us standing there under Mulder's poster.

"Good for you," I said cheerfully, doing my best to smile. "You're probably the only person in this school who will get the chance to enjoy education in another country! That's pretty exciting, isn't it?"

"It is," he said, not looking at me. "Well, I won't know anyone there, so I've got a pretty good chance of building up another reputation that does scream, well, 'psycho.'"

I forced myself to laugh; my face hurt, but I wouldn't let him know. "Oh you're never a psycho; give yourself some more credit!"

"Well, a lot of people think that I am." We were silent for a few minutes until I said, perhaps a bit way too brightly, "Well, time to get to homeroom."

"Ill walk you there," he said, but I shook my head.

"No, you'll be late for your homeroom if you do that, and you don't want to miss the morning announcements these days!"

Before he could say anything else, I ran out of the cafeteria.

According to my sister's stack of romance novels, I should start cry any second now, but I didn't.

However, the part about heartbreaking was nothing but real.

***

I skipped lunch for the whole week; I didn't want to see him or talk to him if possible. All of my friends except Elena and Estelle didn't know about Mulder, so there was no reason that they might bring him up. We talked about what our final exams might cover, our plans for summer, and sometimes music and movies. Elena and Estelle didn't talk about him either; Elena was too worried about her Geometry final to talk about anything else, and Estelle was upset that her sister would be leaving her in a month or so.

Exams took one and half weeks. I finished mine without any incidents, and I was confident that I had passed all of them. The day before the English exam, I went to Estelle's house to help her with some last minute reviewing. As I waited for her to open the door, I saw Mulder looking at me through a window. He smiled at me, his expression a bit unsure, but I bit my lower lip and stared straight at the front door of Estelle's house. I could tell that he had left his spot behind the window.

I sighed. I knew that I was being rude, but I wasn't as hurt as the day I saw that poster on the cafeteria wall.

Maybe rudeness--or coldness to some--could actually offer some kind of protection sometimes. I hugged myself tightly; had anyone realized this before me? Was that the reason why some people always seemed to hate everyone no matter how they were treated?

Were they actually trying to protect themselves from getting hurt? Was I?

***

I went to Bill's graduation with my family. I didn't listen for Mulder's name to be called; however, when I saw him walked across the stage, I felt like someone had pricked my heart with a sharp pin.

__

He really was leaving, a tiny voice said in my head.

I blinked; the voice was no longer there. I applauded with everyone else; not too hard, not too weak. Not too enthusiastic, not too uninterested.

It was just another person that I wouldn't ever see again walking across the stage and taking his diploma.

After the ceremony, I told my family that I'd go and find Ellie. I pushed through the crowd to Estelle. She didn't look upset at all. She was smiling and beaming at her sister admiringly. Mrs. Rosenberg, however, was still dabbing her eyes with a handkerchief. Ellie pulled me aside and said, "Sorry about Mom; she's having another of her emotional breakdowns--it's not uncommon these days."

I grinned. "I can imagine. At least Estelle's out of that phase now."

She sighed, looking relieved. "Yeah. I don't think I can stand it if she's also crying her eyes out. Listen," she lowered her voice to a whisper so her family wouldn't hear, "Look after my sister, would you? Not that I have no faith in her--it's just that she can always use some help in well, a particular subject, which you two had the same class this year. Can you do that for me?"

I grinned. "Of course. That's what friends are for, right? They look out for each other."

She smiled and went back to her family; few other senior girls were gathering around her, chatting excitedly. I heard one of them asking Ellie what was she planning for the summer. I found my family near the exit; Dad was shaking hand with the principal, and Melissa looked bored. "Where have you been?" she asked.

"I told you that I went to find a friend," I said slowly, taking another step toward her.

"A friend? Mr. Fox Mulder, I presume?"

"Fox Mulder is not a girl, Missy," I said, laughing.

"Oh, I've always thought that you have a thing for him," she said thoughtfully, studying me. "Guess you don't, after all."

I didn't say anything, because I _did _have a thing for Mulder, putting it my sister's way.

***

I went to Estelle's house for a few times during summer. I never caught Mulder looking at me through the window again, but I knew that I would eventually move on, and even find someone who suited me better.

Fox Mulder was just another guy who I would never see again in my life.


	13. Epilogue

Beyond Yesterday

Epilogue:

Stepping out of the elevator, I cursed silently at my bad luck.

What bad deed had I done to deserve working with Fox "Spooky" Mulder?

But somehow, the name Mulder sounded so familiar.

Could I have met him before, maybe even befriended with him? I shook my head and dismissed the thought. It was highly improbable.

__

But not impossible, a tiny voice said inside my head. _Think!_

I forced myself to stop thinking. The only reason that the name Mulder sounded so familiar was probably because I had heard so much about him during my training; lots of people joked about him and his obsession with the supernatural.

I stopped in front of a door. This must be it. I knocked, and waited for an answer.

"No one down here but the FBI's most unwanted," someone yelled from the other side of the door.

Ha, ha. Very, very funny. I took a deep breath and turned the doorknob and entered the damp and musty office. "Agent Mulder? My name is Dana Scully and I have been assigned to--"

He twirled his chair around so we were facing each other, and the moment I saw his face, I drew in a sharp breath and nearly took a step back.

His face--it was too familiar. And I was a hundred percent positive that we've never met before.

__

Think, the tiny voice was back. _Think; you must have seen this face somewhere before!_

But I dismissed it again as I approached the desk buried under piles of paper and books, doing my best to hide my shock and to smile.

He seemed to be shocked by my appearance, just like his face shocked me. He got up from his chair, took a step toward me, cocking an eyebrow questioningly and inquired,

"Excuse me, have we met before?"

THE END


	14. Author's Note

I've finally done it… whew. Before schools starts too.

I'd like to thank those who had followed this story and/or reviewed it; this is my first full-length work, and I'm overwhelmed by the number of reviews I've received for this story—really, I didn't know that people would like it in the first place; I was merely responding a challenge I dug off another author's bio page.

I've noticed that many people think that there wasn't enough MSR, but how many people truly fall in love in high school? I don't know… I am probably not the best person to answer that question. However, I do know about high school life, the pressure of classes and fellow students, first crush and puppy love, and that was what I decided to write about—something that I _do _know so the story would sound as real as my poor writing skill would allow it to be.

Here are some people whom deserve special gratitude; _Beyond Yesterday _wouldn't be here if it wasn't for them.

PixieDustBunny for the challenge. The idea of a pre-XF story wouldn't even come to my mind if I hadn't read the challenge from your bio. Thank you for the idea.

Monica for digging up the first chapter, making me revising and continuing it, and most important of all, for being my beta! I really don't know where I'd be without you along the way; you've saved me from so much humiliation.

Megan and Lily for encouraging me to go on whenever I faced a writer's block; thanks for being with me in those hours when everything had come to a dead end; _gratias__!_

Lucas, Alice, Rosemary and Eric for keeping my insanity and twisted sense of humor at bay with that "Project Kindergarten"… this is important because well, if you guys didn't do that, this story would be even more ruined than it already is… I sure love to slap on my own face, don't I?

CB15—wow! I've got to admit that although I've talked to many people that I don't know online, you're the best out of them! You really are fun to talk with, and conversations with you on AIM brought back many great freshmen moments—time before I learned that some people hold grudge against me just for what I am. And you're right—screw them all. 

I'll probably be taking a long break from XF fan fiction writing and start to work on stories for other shows and work on my wallpaper web page… 

Again, thank you for reading this story. It means a lot to me, knowing that there are people out there reading and maybe even liking it.


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